


Fall Line

by dS_Tiff, Rubberducky100



Category: due South
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Skiing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-01-06 22:18:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1112169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dS_Tiff/pseuds/dS_Tiff, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rubberducky100/pseuds/Rubberducky100
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fraser and Ray run into trouble on their skiing vacation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is our first collaboration. We started writing it about two years ago and a lot has happened in that time, but we had fun writing it, we hope you enjoy reading it.

“What are those Ray?” Constable Benton Fraser scratched at his eyebrow with his thumb as Ray Kowalski's face broke into a broad grin.

“They're skis buddy,” Ray laughed, “what, er, what did ya think they were?”

Fraser sighed. “I realise that Ray,” he replied, frowning, “I suppose what I should have asked is why have you brought skis to the Consulate?”

“Because, Fraser, I thought we should go skiing!” Ray replied.

“Now?” asked Fraser incredulously.

“No!” exclaimed Ray, “not right now. Maybe this weekend though?”

Fraser was still puzzled at where this sudden desire to go skiing had come from. “I wasn't aware that you could ski Ray?” he said.

“I can't,” grinned Ray, Fraser's frown deepened, “but you can, right?”

Fraser nodded. “Well, yes I can, although I've only ever used wooden skis before.” He picked up one of Ray's skis and studied it closely, turning it over in his hand and rubbing the surface with his thumb. “I imagine the techniques required to ski successfully with these are quite different. Modern materials and production methods, while no doubt efficient, are nothing compared to the skill and craftsmanship of traditional...”

“Fraser!” Ray cut him off before he launched into a lecture, “don't worry about your technique, we'll find ourselves a couple of ski instructors.” Ray winked at his buddy and beamed a huge toothy grin.

Fraser frowned again. “Ray, are you feeling quite alright?” he asked.

“Yeah, sure I am,” replied Ray. “I'm just thinkin' about our trip.” He winked again. “Ski instructors, right buddy?”

Fraser thought for a moment. “I'm terribly sorry Ray,” he replied, “but I'm afraid I have no idea what you're insinuating? You are attempting to insinuate something, aren't you?”

“Well, er, I wouldn't know about that,” replied Ray, wishing his buddy wouldn't use words that he didn't understand, “but ya have heard the stories about ski instructors, haven't ya?” 

Fraser shook his head slowly. 

“They're hot Fraser!” said Ray.

Fraser's mouth fell open. 

“Come on buddy,” grinned Ray. “I figured we'd head up to the, er, the mountains, rent a cabin and then see if we can't meet us some beautiful girls. I'm thinkin' you and me deserve some luck with the ladies? So, what d'ya say?”

Fraser's mouth was still open. “Er, I, er...”

Ray shook his head and sighed. “Relax buddy,” he said, smiling, “I'm kiddin'. Look, I just thought it would be nice to get outta this place for a while. Y'know, kick back, just the two of us...well, and Dief of course. I guess I thought we could do with some R and R. I've never been skiing so I thought we could give it a try? These are Dewey's, he goes all the time, he said we could borrow his gear.”

Fraser nodded and finally cracked a smile. “R and R?” he repeated and Ray nodded. They had been having a difficult few weeks. A particularly troubling case had been causing them both sleepless nights and their frustrations had been manifesting themselves in petty arguments again. They were both determined that they wouldn't fall out again, not after what had happened a few months ago with the pirates and the ghost ship. It had been completely crazy, but had made them realise how much their friendship meant to both of them. Now a new witness had come forward on the Bellini case though, so they were sure they had enough evidence for an arrest at last. When it was all over, a vacation could be just what they both needed Fraser realised. “Alright then, why not? I'll speak to Inspector Thatcher and arrange a few days off.”

“Greatness!” said Ray, fishing in his jacket pocket and pulling out a piece of folded paper, “Oh and, er, by the way, I got the warrant,” he said, “let's go nail that creep.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Flight 139 to Aspen, Colorado, is now boarding,” a relaxed feminine voice said over the intercom at O’Hare International airport. Fraser and Ray sat in their seats at the airport with a few luggage bags around them. Ray was eating a bag of Cracker Jack rather quickly and Fraser was observing their surroundings.

“Ray, I believe the stewardess just announced that our flight is boarding.” Fraser stood and picked up two of their bags. Ray stood up slowly and stuffed his bag of Cracker Jack in his pocket.

“OK, let’s go buddy.” Ray picked up his bag.

“Ray, you cannot bring food on the aircraft.”

“Oh.” Ray pulled the bag back out of his pocket and dumped the remains in his mouth. “Let’s go,” he said with his mouth full.

Fraser shook his head disapprovingly. “You really shouldn’t speak with your mouth full.”

Ray shrugged. “Dief, come on!” He called behind him.

“Dief isn’t with us, Ray. He is being transported separately through…” He stopped and immediately noticed his wolf companion had come running out of nowhere and to a skidding halt at their feet. Ray smiled and gestured for Dief to follow them.

“Ray, what are you doing?” asked Fraser. “They don’t allow pets on the aircraft.”

“They do.” Ray stopped walking and pulled a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket. “Here, put these on.”

“Why?”

“Just do it, I’ll, er, explain later.” 

Fraser reluctantly put the glasses on and looked around in them for a moment.

“Ya look real cool, Fraser.” Ray grinned and continued walking to the gate. 

“Ray, I thought you said you already arranged for Diefenbaker to be transported separately?” said Fraser, puzzled.

“The company got scared ‘cuz they didn’t know Dief was a wolf and, er, made me pick him up at the last minute,” explained Ray. The two arrived at the gate and the stewardess stepped away from the crowd of people she was helping to see the two casually dressed men and their dog.

“Sir, you cannot bring animals aboard the flight.” The stewardess immediately stopped them.

“No, this is a seein’ eye dog,” replied Ray. “See, my friend here is blind.” He pointed to Fraser. This time, Ray would refrain from telling them that Dief was part wolf.

“Ray, I’m not blind!” Fraser wasn’t going to let his friend talk him into lying. No matter how much he would enjoy letting Dief join them on the aeroplane it wouldn’t be right. It was against the law after all.

“He’s, er, also unhinged. I mean, er…” Ray leaned closer to the stewardess. “He’s, er, one fry short of a Happy Meal if ya know what I mean?”

“Oh!” She nodded and her and Ray exchanged an understanding smile. “That’s very unfortunate.” She looked past Ray and stared at Fraser for a few minutes. “I’ll collect a tag for your dog so the cabin crew won’t worry… and you’ll need a leash too.”

“Er, yeah I forgot that somewhere.” Ray stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Thank you kindly, ma’am.” Fraser said, realizing Ray would have to win this time since there was no other place for Dief to go at such short notice.

XxXxX

Just as the three began to board the plane, Fraser stopped suddenly to take off his glasses.

“Not yet, buddy.” Ray pushed them back on to his nose. “Wait until we sit down, OK?”

“Alright, you’re the genius behind this plan,” retorted Fraser. He was very uncomfortable with this situation.

Ray turned around and reached into his pocket again, inconspicuously pulling out a short plastic rod. He slowly unfolded it and handed it to Fraser. “Here, walking stick.”

“A white stick, Ray! Is that really necessary?” Fraser asked.

“Sure it is.”

They walked down the aisle, reading the seat numbers quietly until Ray stopped to shove his bag in the overhead compartment. “Here we are,” he mumbled. Fraser sat in the end seat. Ray sat down at the window seat and Dief climbed up to the middle seat.

Fraser looked at Dief. “You’re lucky these are three seat rows, or else you’d have to sit on the floor,” he pointed out.

Dief whined at him.

“That’s very rude, Ray was there first and you know it. Stop being such a baby,” Fraser replied.

Now Dief was really flustered and barked in protest. 

“Are you two done yet?” Ray asked, still staring out the window.

Fraser sighed. “Ray, he wants your seat.”

“Why?”

“Your seat is the window seat.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me?” Ray’s mouth dropped in disbelief. 

Dief whined.

“Well this is likely the only time he’ll ever be on a commercial flight,” said Fraser.

“You’re siding with the wolf?” Ray exclaimed. Dief barked again and Ray gave up. “Fine, take the seat! I want it on the way back though.”

The wolf quickly hopped into Ray’s seat and Fraser quickly leaned over while Ray was still standing to fasten Dief’s safety belt.

“Seriously? A safety belt too?”

“Better safe than sorry, Ray,” replied Fraser.

Ray decided not to answer that and fell back down into his seat. He looked to his right at Dief who was fixed on a bird out the window and then to the left at Fraser who was already reprimanding a young boy behind him who was kicking the back of his seat. This is gonna be a long flight, Ray thought to himself and closed his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

The plane finally touched down after what seemed to Ray like the longest flight in history. Ray just wanted to sit there and watch the in-flight movie and he'd hoped Fraser would do the same. Unfortunately for Ray, Fraser reminded him that he was meant to be blind and therefore watching the movie would most likely arouse suspicion among the cabin crew. Instead, Fraser decided to tell Ray some Inuit stories he thought his friend would enjoy. Ray did not enjoy them. He dozed off once, but Fraser very kindly woke him as he didn't want him to miss the end of the story. Ray would have happily missed the end of the story...and the beginning of the story and the middle, for that matter.

As a consequence, as they stood waiting for their luggage Ray was in a foul mood. “Ray, I believe that's your bag,” said Fraser. Ray scowled at him and went to collect it. He dragged it back to where his buddy and Dief were standing. “Ray, there's my bag.”

“Fraser! Get your own bag,” snapped Ray in disbelief.

“I'm blind, we should maintain the subterfuge until we have exited the terminal building with Diefenbaker,” Fraser reminded him, adding, “There are the skis.”

Ray sighed. “OK, OK,” he grumbled as he went to collect the rest of their luggage from the carousel. “I know what you're doing, y'know,” he called back over his shoulder. Fraser didn't respond. “This is, er, punishment for makin' ya lie about bein' blind, right?” 

Fraser remained silent. 

“Y'know we could've just left the wolf in Chicago. At least I woulda got the window seat.”

“Ray, I appreciate your efforts to facilitate Diefenbaker accompanying us on this vacation,” replied Fraser. Ray could tell his buddy was still mad with him.

Dief was still on a leash as they walked out of the airport. Ray followed behind with their luggage on a trolley. They collected the jeep they'd hired, loaded the luggage and drove off towards the ski resort. Dief whined most of the way. “What's with him?” asked Ray.

“He didn't like being restrained,” Fraser explained. 

“That's it, that is it,” Ray slapped one hand on the steering wheel. “Next time you make the travel arrangements.”

“Right you are,” nodded Fraser. “Would you like me to drive?”

“No,” said Ray with a sneer, “I wanna get there before it's time to go home.”

They drove along in virtual silence, climbing higher into the mountains. The scenery was incredible, but Ray was having to concentrate on the road as it was becoming icy and snow was starting to fall. “Ray, may I suggest that I take over the driving now, you are not used to driving in these conditions.”

“It's not like we don't get snow back home,” replied Ray, determined that he wouldn't give in to Fraser on this one.

“That's true, but as I'm sure you are aware, the city roads are...” but Fraser didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as the front wheels suddenly skidded and despite Ray's best efforts the rear wheels locked and the jeep slid off the road and into a ditch.

They came to a halt with a jolt. It had happened very slowly and Fraser had managed to brace himself with his hands. “Ray are you alright?” he asked his rather stunned friend.

“Yeah, er, yeah I'm fine,” replied Ray. “Greatness,” he added, angry at himself now.

“Are you sure?” Fraser was a little concerned. “Even low speed, low impact collisions can result in soft tissue injuries. Do you have any pain in your neck?”

“I said I'm OK,” snapped Ray, struggling to open the door. “How about you? You OK?” he asked.

Fraser nodded and a relieved Ray moved so that he could get a better angle on the buckled door with his foot. Eventually, with one final kick, the door flung open and he climbed out with Dief clambering over the seat to join him. 

Fraser's door was undamaged so he was able to get out with ease and he walked round to stand with Ray and survey the damage. “Oh dear,” he said, slowly rubbing his fingertips over his left eyebrow, it was worse than he'd thought.

Ray sighed. “Er, yeah.” Ray kicked at the wheel arch and a twisted piece of metal fell off. He looked up a Fraser despondently.

“Oh dear,” repeated Fraser. “It's fortunate that you signed the insurance agreement at the rental office.” As Fraser was speaking a bad feeling washed over him. “You did sign the insurance agreement, didn't you?”

“Of course I did,” replied Ray, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a folded piece of paper and waving it in front of Fraser's face. “There should be a number on here to call for, er, a breakdown truck.” Ray took out his phone and began tapping in the number.

Dief made a low noise and Fraser glared at him. “That's not very helpful is it,” he said to his wolf. Dief turned away. 

“Oh for heaven's sake don't sulk,” sighed Fraser, shaking his head.

Ray put his phone back in his pocket. “Greatness,” he muttered. “Fraser, they can't get a breakdown truck out here for two hours. We're gonna freeze to death.”

“We are only a few kilometres from the resort now,” said Fraser, unstrapping the skis from the roof of the jeep and throwing his backpack over his shoulder. “We can walk from here.”

“What!” exclaimed Ray, “how long is that gonna take?”

Fraser opened his mouth to answer, but then his attention was distracted by the sound of another vehicle approaching. Ray immediately jumped out into the road and waved his hands in the air. To his great relief the car stopped and the window was lowered. Ray couldn't help drawing a sharp breath as a pretty young woman with long, dark hair stuck her head out and smiled. “Hi,” said Ray, a broad smile on his face, “er, we're, er, in trouble. Any chance of a ride?” Suddenly, Fraser bundled his partner out of the way and Ray almost lost his footing. “Hey!” Ray exclaimed.

“I'm terribly sorry, Ray,” said Fraser. Then he turned to the occupant of the vehicle. “Good afternoon,” he said, “under normal circumstances I would strongly recommend against you providing strangers with transportation, however we are both officers of the law and therefore our credentials can be verified.” He fumbled in his pocket for his RCMP ID badge.

“Oh you're cops!” smiled the young woman. “Are you going up to the resort?” she asked, noticing the bundle of skis Fraser was holding. 

Ray, who had just about retained his dignity, smiled and nodded, producing his badge. 

“My name's Penny,” the woman continued, “My sister Caitlin and I are going there too, we're starting work tomorrow. Put those skis on the roof and jump in.” 

Fraser helped Ray secure the skis then they got into the car. “Thank you kindly,” said Fraser, “we were in a bit of a pickle.”

The girls laughed. “So do you ski often?” asked Caitlin, the oldest of the sisters.

“Actually no,” replied Fraser. “I have skied in the past, but I am a little rusty and my friend here is a complete novice.”

Ray covered his face with his hands. “Thanks buddy,” he muttered under his breath. He didn't think that telling these girls that he couldn't ski at all was a particularly good way to impress them.

“We can teach you,” smiled Penny, “we're ski instructors, you can be our first clients!”

Immediately Ray's face brightened and he looked at Fraser with a grin. Suddenly this vacation was starting to look up. Fraser cleared his throat and looked back at Ray, his face beginning to flush and his eyes wide with that startled rabbit look that always made Ray laugh. “Oh dear,” mumbled Fraser.


	4. Chapter 4

Penny rejoined her sister and Fraser who were sat in front of the fireplace in the lobby of the ski lodge. “Hot chocolate anyone?” She set a tray of mugs on the nearby table and passed out the drinks.

“Thank you kindly, Penny.” Fraser took a sip of his beverage and immediately decided it was far too sweet for his liking. “So the two of you are new to the skiing instructor vocation?” He set his mug on the mantel of the fireplace.

Penny and Caitlin exchanged looks. “Yes, we've only recently decided to give this a try.” Caitlin said and took a sip of her drink.

“We don't fit in anywhere else.” Penny sat down next to her sister. “It's the only thing we know how to do.”

Caitlin nodded. “Working in an office from nine to five doesn't exactly suit us.”

“I understand.” Fraser agreed. “I couldn't imagine myself sitting in front of a desk as a regular occupation.”

“Yeah me neither.” Ray interrupted.

“I could never do what you guys do though.” Penny looked over at her sister who nodded in agreement. “Must be kinda scary being cops.”

“Nah, er, we don't get scared do we Fraser.” Ray slumped into the couch across from the girls.

Fraser cleared his throat. “Well, being officers of the law we're trained to handle dangerous situations with little consideration to our emotions at the time...” Dief interrupted him with a sharp yap and a glare. He looked down at his wolf lying on the floor by the fireplace. “No, I don't feel it's necessary to apprise these women of the incident involving Ray's inadequate behavior with the chicken trailer.” 

Ray dropped his head into his hands and the girls looked at each other and giggled. Dief yapped again.

“Yes I'm aware of that but...well all right why don't you tell them then?” 

Dief growled quietly.

“Um... he talks to his dog?” Penny whispered to Ray.

“He's a wolf actually. Well half wolf.” Fraser answered. “Oh, I apologize that question was directed towards Ray wasn't it.”

Ray sighed. “He also has freaky super hearing.” 

Penny nodded.

“He has a very lively personality,” said Caitlin, leaning over and giving Dief a scratch behind the ears. “Oh, may I?” She stopped suddenly and looked up at the Mountie.

“By all means,” Fraser smiled.

“Mr Vecchio?” A short older man walked over to the crowd and everyone rose to their feet.

“Er, yeah. You work here?” replied Ray.

The man shook Ray's hand, catching him by surprise slightly. “Yes, my name is Kevin, I'm the manager of the lodge. I'm terribly sorry to tell you this, but it seems we've lost your reservation.”

“Yer kiddin' me?” Ray looked over his shoulder at Fraser. He was too exhausted to get upset. “Er, do you have any other rooms?”

“I'm afraid not. We're completely booked up at this time of year. However I can recommend another lodge merely nineteen miles from here. Shall I call for a cab?” Kevin looked apologetic.

Ray sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Er, yeah I guess so.”

“Alright then, I'll have someone make arrangements at the Raccoon Belly Lodge...”

“The what?” Ray squinted.

“The...Raccoon Belly Lodge...is that alright?” asked Kevin. “The owner is a lovely Russian woman and her nine children work there. I think you'll quite like it.”

Ray raised an eyebrow. This wasn't quite the vacation he'd wanted. “Er... are there any other lodges around?”

“Um...no.” Kevin looked over Ray's shoulder at Penny and Caitlin who were listening in. “Oh girls!” Kevin moved past Ray and Fraser. “I'm afraid we had to give your rooms away to guests, since you’re employees now I had no other choice, but I have a cozy cabin behind the resort with running water and electricity and three beds if you'd like that?”

Penny's mouth dropped. “That's...that's better than what we wanted! Thank you so much Kevin.”

“That sounds great, I'll get the bags.” Caitlin picked up her bag.

“Wonderful! I'll just get your key.” Kevin hurried off to the counter while the girls busied themselves with their bags and let Fraser and Ray talk.

“I'm sure the Raccoon Belly will be suitable, Ray,” Fraser whispered, not wanting to trouble the girls. “A family owned business is usually very quaint.”

“Nine kids Fraser...nine kids!” Ray tried to whisper, but failed.

“He didn't say how old the children were.”

Ray sighed. “I'm...I'm sorry buddy. I really messed this up didn't I.”

“Ray, you had no way of knowing this would happen.” Fraser put a hand on his friend's shoulder. Things hadn't worked out anywhere close to how Ray planned and they hadn't even been there for a day yet. “Don't worry, I'm sure things can't possibly get any worse.”

“Hey Fraser, your wolf just threw up on the rug.” Caitlin wanted to laugh but remained serious, especially since she could see Kevin charging towards them in her peripheral vision.

“This is what happens when you eat ginger snaps that are not yours,” Fraser reprimanded his ill-looking wolf.

“M-my...my rug!” Kevin put his hands on his head. “That's a $300 rug!”

Fraser picked up a piece of paper and pen from the desk nearby and scribbled something down quickly. “Baking soda and vinegar will clean the stain efficiently.” Fraser handed Kevin the paper and he stormed off with it.

Caitlin and Penny were just standing there watching them the entire time. They had their bags in their hands, but didn't want to leave them like this. “So are we still on for skiing lessons tomorrow?” Caitlin smiled, trying to brighten the situation.

Ray looked at Fraser and then back at the girls. He was really looking forward to taking their lesson but it was a silly idea if they were going to be staying so far away from them now. “Nineteen miles is kinda unpracticable...er...”

“Impractical.” Fraser corrected.

“Yeah, that.” Ray looked sadly at them and tried to force a smile. “But, er, it was real nice to meet ya both.”

“Yeah, same here.” Penny forced a smile too. They exchanged their goodbyes and the girls moved over towards the back door where a trail led to the cabin. Fraser and Ray headed towards the exit.

“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” Caitlin looked at her sister with a grin.

Penny dropped her bags and crossed her arms. “Caitlin, we can't. They're cops! Is that really a good idea?”

“I guess you're right.” Caitlin looked down at her bags and thought for a moment before looking back up at Penny. “But you were thinking about it too then?” She grinned.

Penny grinned too. “I guess I was, wasn't I?” They both turned around and watched the employees desperately trying to clean the rug. Penny let out a giggle but then her smile faded as she realized Fraser and Ray really had left.

“Does that mean yes?” Caitlin looked at her hopefully.

Penny sighed and thought for a minute. “This is ridiculous Catey. Really, really ridiculous. We just met them!”

“You're not saying no? Come on, Penny, take a chance for once! I think this might be really good for us.”

She was absolutely right. They really needed to try something crazy and new. “Maybe you're right. We deserve a chance with a couple nice guys don't we?” Caitlin nodded. “Well...OK then!”

“Really?”

“Yes, go get them!” She laughed and watched Caitlin run outside. “This can't be a good idea.” She said to herself. They just seemed so nice though. Maybe that was only because they were cops? Maybe all cops were like that? She certainly was going to find out.

Caitlin pushed the door open and ran outside. “Hey guys, wait!” Fraser and Ray turned around as Caitlin quickly caught up with them. “Penny and I were thinking that maybe you two could stay with us?”

“Really?” Ray raised an eyebrow and a huge grin spread across his face.

“We couldn't possibly...” Fraser started but Ray punched him in the arm. “What I mean is...er...we wouldn't want to put you out.”

“We don't need three beds...well I guess one of us will have to sleep on the couch. I can sleep on the couch. I don't mind.” She smiled.

“Actually I prefer sleeping on the floor.” Fraser said as Caitlin led them back into the building. Ray had been grinning since Caitlin rushed out to get them and now Fraser realized he was staring at him. “Are you alright?” Fraser asked.

“It's all happenin' buddy!”

“What is Ray?”

“They're already askin' us to move in! Actually this is happenin' faster than I expected...” Ray combed a hand through his hair and felt very nervous suddenly.

“Ray, they're inviting us to stay with them only temporarily…as their guests, nothing more.”

“We still got this whole trip ahead of us, buddy! A lot can happen.” He slapped Fraser on the back and ran ahead.


	5. Chapter 5

“I think I need to sleep,” sighed Caitlin. “We start work tomorrow, although why anyone would want a ski lesson at eight in the morning I have no idea.”

Ray laughed. “Er, coz they’re some kinda freak?” he suggested.

Fraser frowned. “Ray, most people are most alert first thing in the morning, it is an excellent time to learn a new skill, we should book our first lesson for a similar time.”

“No way!” exclaimed Ray. “This is meant to be a vacation, buddy. That means I’m sleepin’ in late every day. I can’t learn nothin’ new until I’ve had coffee anyway, lots of coffee.”

“Hmmm,” Fraser pondered, “sleeping in late does seem like a terrible waste of the day.”

Caitlin glanced at Penny and grinned. She hated sleeping in too, but Penny had trouble dragging herself out of bed before noon.

“I’m with you Ray,” smiled Penny. “Vacations are for relaxation, so you should sleep in as long as you want. I wish I was on vacation, but I’m here to work, otherwise I’d be sleeping with you.” She stopped suddenly as she realised what she’d said. “I mean, I’d be sleeping in too…on my own.” Her face was bright red now and she looked away from Ray.

Ray grinned. “I knew what ya meant,” he smiled.

“Boy, I’m tired,” Penny leapt up from her seat, she was so embarrassed after her Freudian slip. If she’d said it to anyone else she would have just laughed it off, but she really liked Ray…really liked him. She’d only known him for a day, but…she sighed, this was ridiculous. She really didn’t need a relationship now, she was here to change her life, but not like this. “Goodnight,” she said over her shoulder as she half ran towards her bedroom door.

Fraser watched her go with some concern. He glanced at Caitlin, but the older girl just shrugged. “It’s been a long day,” she said by way of explanation as she picked up their empty mugs and carried them towards the kitchen. 

“Indeed,” agreed Fraser, “thank you for allowing us to stay here,” he added and Caitlin smiled as she headed to her own bedroom.

xXx

An hour or so later Fraser was asleep on his back on the floor with just a single blanket over him. Dief was snoring loudly by the dying embers of the fire. Ray, on the other hand, was not asleep. The fold out bed was quite comfortable, but Ray was cold and his neck felt weird. Maybe he had twisted it in the accident or something, he thought, rubbing it gently. A massage would be good right now. He sat up and glanced over his shoulder towards the room where Penny was sleeping. He wondered if she was good with her hands? Jeez, snap out of it Kowalski! He thought to himself. He’d only been joking around with Fraser before about ski instructors, he figured they were only young and attractive in the movies and real ones would be big butch guys with thighs the size of his own chest, or scary European girls who’d sooner yell at him than massage his aching body. 

Dief’s leg twitched in his sleep and Ray wondered what the wolf was dreaming about. Food most likely, he thought. He lay down again and closed his eyes and finally felt himself drifting off to sleep. It didn’t last long. Dief’s snoring got so loud that he woke not only himself, but Ray and Fraser too.

“Jesus!” exclaimed Ray. “What the hell kinda doughnuts were ya dreamin’ about?” 

Dief grumbled a little, yawned and went back to sleep.

“Fraser,” hissed Ray, “er, are ya awake?”

“I am now,” sighed Fraser, making a mental note not to allow Diefenbaker to eat cheese so close to bedtime again.

“Isn’t this great?” whispered Ray.

“Being woken in the middle of the night by a snoring wolf?” asked Fraser, incredulously.

“No, ya freak,” replied Ray, shaking his head, “I mean this cabin.”

“Ah,” Fraser realised his mistake, “I agree. Although it is quite obviously a modern build, the architect clearly designed it sympathetically, taking into account the materials used in the traditional buildings in this area. Furthermore…”

“Fraser!” Ray interrupted him, “I’m not talkin’ about the architecture! I mean it’s nice bein’ here, much better than the, er, cheap hotel room I booked.” 

Fraser nodded, although the hotel room would have been more than adequate for his needs, he knew that a lack of home comforts made Ray grouchy which would have made their vacation slightly less enjoyable for both of them. This log cabin had a bath and a shower, a fully equipped kitchen, comfortable sofas and a large fireplace with a huge, soft rug in front of it, which Dief was currently making good use of. 

“The, er, the company’s good too, huh?” added Ray, winking. 

No one else would have been able to see the subtle movement of his eyelid, but Fraser noticed and suppressed a smile. Caitlin and Penny both seemed like lovely young ladies, he thought to himself and Penny had apparently taken as much of a shine to Ray as Ray had to her. “It is fortunate that our paths crossed,” observed Fraser.

“Yeah,” smiled Ray, “real fortunate. Look, don’t worry buddy, I’m not, er, gonna make a fool of myself OK, I’m not gonna do anythin’ dumb.”

“I’m very pleased to hear that, Ray,” replied Fraser.

“I just think I can have some fun with Penny,” Ray continued, “just while we’re here, y’know.”

“I would suggest that Penny would be very grateful for that opportunity,” agreed Fraser.

Ray frowned slightly. “That’s a kinda funny thing to say, buddy?” he said, questioningly.

“I apologise,” replied Fraser, “but it wasn’t meant as an attempt at humour.”

Ray shook his head. “I meant funny like, er, weird, not funny like a joke,” he explained, mildly exasperated.

“Ah I see,” said Fraser. “Well…and of course I may be entirely wrong about this…but I got the impression that something is troubling both of them, Penny in particular.”

“Oh,” nodded Ray quietly. He hadn’t noticed anything, but then he’d been slightly distracted by other aspects of Penny, her mood hadn’t been at the forefront of his mind.

“Perhaps she is simply nervous about her first day on the job?” suggested Fraser.

“Yeah, I, er, I guess that’s probably it,” Ray agreed. “OK, I need to sleep, tell your wolf to keep it down, will ya, or I’ll kick him in the head.”

Fraser knew that Ray wasn’t really considering animal cruelty, but he crawled over to Dief, carefully adjusting his sleeping position to ensure that the animal was breathing more freely and therefore quietly. He hoped that his wolf would stay like that long enough for Ray to fall into a deep sleep this time.

“Thanks buddy,” whispered Ray as peace descended on the night.

xXx

The next morning, the two girls were surprised to see Fraser already awake and dressed when they tiptoed out of their rooms. “We were afraid we’d wake you guys,” whispered Caitlin. “We don’t want to be late, we need to make a good impression with our new boss.”

“Of course,” replied Fraser, “I’ve been up for a while already, I slept in for eight minutes longer than usual and now my head is in somewhat of a pickle.”

Caitlin laughed, Fraser used some weird phrases sometimes, but she liked that he was kind of quirky, at bit like her. She had never felt the desire to be like everyone else, who wanted to be normal anyway? That’s what she always thought to herself, normal was boring.

Penny was making pancakes, but she didn’t seem to be concentrating, Fraser noticed. She’d already poured pancake mixture on the plate instead of in the pan and now she was about to knock half a box of eggs onto the floor. Before anyone realised what was happening, Fraser had dived across the kitchen and grabbed the box before any damage was done. 

“Oh!” Penny let out a startled scream.

“I’m sorry,” Fraser apologised. 

“It’s OK, it was my fault,” Penny tried to smile. “I, um, I…” She just wanted to go back to bed, she’d had a restless night and the last thing she felt like doing was starting a new job.

“Hey,” Caitlin was by her side now. “Let me do this,” she said, taking the spatula from her sister’s hand, “why don’t you go take a shower?”

“OK,” agreed Penny, “thanks,” she added quietly.

“Is everything alright?” asked Fraser when Penny had disappeared.

Caitlin contemplated telling him everything, but the two sisters had agreed never to talk about the reason why they were really here. They were here to start new lives, to forget about the past and to enjoy themselves, all of those things were true and that was all anyone else needed to know. Even so, Benton Fraser seemed like someone they could trust, he was easy to talk to and he was a cop…maybe if she told him…but no, she and Penny had an agreement. “Yeah, everything’s fine,” she smiled. It wasn’t a lie, everything really was fine now. 

It wasn’t long before the smell of pancakes roused Ray…and Dief…and they all enjoyed their breakfast. Ray looked out of the window as Fraser cleared away the breakfast things and Penny and Caitlin got ready to leave. “Wow,” he said. The view was spectacular in the early morning sun, he’d hardly noticed his surroundings when they’d arrived yesterday. “Y’know, some days I can really see why ya love the snow so much. It’s kinda pretty.”

Fraser smiled. “I agree that fresh snow is aesthetically delightful, however we must remember the inherent dangers relating to a landscape such as this,” he said, “we should treat this environment with the respect it deserves.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Ray didn’t really know what his buddy was talking about and right now he didn’t care.

“Isn’t this an amazing place,” Penny’s voice startled Ray slightly.

“Hey,” he smiled at her as she joined him at the window. She was wearing a blue and lilac ski suit that was well padded, but accentuated her figure perfectly. Ray took a sharp breath. “I was, er, just admirin’ the view,” he said. “Outta the window, I mean,” he clarified, feeling warmth flush his cheeks. 

Penny blushed too. She stood closer to him than she needed to. “It snowed some more overnight, perfect conditions for skiing,” she said.

“Greatness,” Ray replied. They stood there like that for a while longer, just staring out of the window. Fraser had moved back into the kitchen to give them some space. After a few minutes Ray felt like he wanted to say something else, the silence was beginning to feel awkward. “So, er, how long have ya wanted to be a ski instructor?” he asked. He was only making conversation, it seemed like a harmless question when he’d asked it, he wasn’t expecting the reaction he got from her.

“Since…since…”Penny’s voice cracked with emotion.

OK so maybe Fraser had been right, Ray realised, there really was something wrong wasn’t there. So now what should he say? Whatever it was, it wasn’t any of his business, he hardly knew her. “Er, er…” he stumbled. 

Penny took a deep breath and pulled herself together. She fought the overwhelming urge to break down and tell him everything right there and then, but she and Caitlin had agreed that they were going to put it all behind them and the last thing she wanted was to drag it all up now. Ray would probably freak out anyway and that would be the end of…well, it would be the end of anything before it had even started. Bad idea, she convinced herself, really bad idea. “I have to go to work, wish me luck!” She grinned a huge grin and Ray couldn’t help but respond in kind.

Caitlin and Penny left the cabin and Ray watched them drive off towards the resort centre. “Fraser,” he said, “what ya said last night about Penny, I think ya were onto somethin’.”

“Hmmm,” Fraser nodded. “I had hoped I was wrong. However Caitlin was deliberately deflecting earlier, it was obvious she did not want to discuss it. To be fair Ray, they barely know us, they have no reason to confide in us. I just hope it’s nothing serious.”

Ray nodded slowly. He hoped so too, but if they were in some kind of trouble, he wanted Penny to know that he’d help her, if she’d let him.


	6. Chapter 6

Eventually Fraser and Ray left the cabin and hopped on a ski lift. They met up with the girls at the top who were organizing their skiing equipment. “Hey!” Caitlin happily shouted at the two. She and Penny had been awkwardly quiet since they’d left the cabin so this was a great relief.

“Caitlin, you're going to cause an avalanche!” Penny hissed. She forced a smile, still trying to recover from her previous thoughts. She was worried this would be really awkward after she’d walked out on Ray like that. She was hoping they wouldn't want ski lessons after all. Not today anyway. “I guess you guys are here for a lesson?” She spoke finally.

“Er, yeah, if yer not busy anyway.” Ray fumbled in front of Fraser. He was going to ask Fraser to teach him how to walk in skis before they boarded the ski lift so he wouldn't embarrass himself too badly, but then he realized that would take away from some of the fun of the lesson.

“Uh...” Penny wanted to say they were too busy, but Ray was grinning at her and she couldn't help but smile. “No of course we're not. Just, er, um...you're wearing your ski suit wrong.” She pointed to Ray.

“Ray, didn't you hear me point that out to you before we left the cabin?” Fraser asked.

“Er, yeah, but I thought I'd let a professional show me how to do it.” He winked at Fraser and then realized Penny was listening. “Er, how to ski I mean.”

“Well you did fine, for a rookie anyway.” She blushed. “Come on, we have a lot to cover. We'd better get started if you want to learn how to ski down the children's slope before dinner.”

“Children's slope?” Ray's exclaimed so loudly his voice cracked. “I don't wanna...”

“Rule number one!” Caitlin interrupted him. “Never yell on the slopes. You could cause an avalanche.”

“Er...right.” Ray looked around him and decided that was silly. His voice wasn't that loud surely.

Caitlin and Penny led them to the children's slope nearby. Ray was really disappointed. It must only take five seconds to reach the bottom, he figured.

“OK, well since Fraser already knows how to ski I think we'd better focus on Ray.” Caitlin said. “Um, helmets?” She looked at Penny.

“Oh they're in the bag over there.” Penny pointed to the bench a few feet behind them, where they’d left the rest of their ski equipment. She and Ray watched Fraser and Caitlin walk over to the bench and begin sizing helmets. “Er...” She looked at Ray, desperate to break the awkward silence. “Let's...let's get started.”

“Yeah.” Ray agreed and kind of paced in a small circle, totally unsure of what to do.

Penny smiled. For a moment she'd completely forgot all her teaching skills. “Um...how are you going to stand?”

He spread his legs and arched his back and held his ski poles far apart. She let out a quick sharp laugh.

What? Ya haven't taught me nothin’ yet!” he grinned at her. He realized he was being completely ridiculous, but he wanted her to correct him.

“Sorry, you're right.” She cleared her throat. “Well first of all, let's drop the ski poles for now.” She took them both from his hands and gently laid them on the ground. She moved behind him and put her hands on his sides. “Bring your legs in.” 

He did as she said. 

“That's better,” she smiled. “Now, um...” She walked in front of him and stood between his feet. She grabbed his arms and put them straight in front of her and pushed his chest back. “You can't be hunched over.” She was really struggling to focus on this lesson. 

So was Ray. Fraser was really going to be upset when he realized he’d retained nothing from this lesson, Ray thought.

“Um...” Penny struggled to think what was next. She looked over Ray's shoulder at Caitlin who was strapping a helmet on Fraser's head. God, does it really take that long to put on a helmet? Penny thought to herself and watched Caitlin talk to Fraser. They were too far away to make out anything that was being said. She was desperately hoping her friend would come back over and help her focus her mind in reality. Ray was breathing in her ear now. She didn't know if he was aware of it, but it wasn't helping her at all.

“You OK?” Ray looked at her stunned expression.

“Oh me?” She snapped herself out of the trance she'd fallen in and backed away from him slightly. “Yeah, of course.”

“If ya...wanna talk about anything...er, I mean...” Caitlin and Fraser rejoined them and Ray decided to leave that thought there. He was quite sure she understood.

Caitlin dropped a helmet on Ray's head and pushed it on tightly.

“Hey, watch the hair!” He jumped away from her.

“Safety first, Ray.” Fraser said.

Ray rolled his eyes.

Penny secured her skis and faced her sister. “We should go down once and show them how it's done.” She really wanted to get away from them for a minute to clear her head.

“That's a good idea.” Caitlin nodded and turned to the boys. “Watch us while we go down. Make sure you watch how we move, OK?” They both put on their goggles before shooting each other a look as they pushed off simultaneously.

Ray unfastened his helmet as soon as they started down the hill. “They look good, huh buddy?”

“Yes they do.” Fraser nodded but never took his eyes off the girls. “There's quite an art to skiing. They have a superb stance. The turns they execute are...”

“No, Fraser I'm not talking about their technique!” Ray sighed and dropped his head. “Look at 'em.” He looked back up and pointed to them. “I mean really look at 'em. It's…it’s, er, sexy.”

“Ray! We're supposed to be studying their...well, not... not admiring their...oh dear.”

“Exactly, buddy!” Ray patted Fraser on the back.

The girls came back up the ski lift shortly and returned to the boys. “Are you ready to do that now?” Penny asked.

“Er...I dunno.” Suddenly Ray realized maybe he should have been paying closer attention to what they were doing. “I mean...ya might have to help me with my stance again...”

“I'll go first.” Fraser stepped in front of Ray and volunteered himself.

“Oh OK.” Penny stepped back beside Ray. “Caitlin you can do him...I mean do his lesson...of course. You can um...”

Caitlin blushed. “I know, I got it.” She interrupted, stopping her sister from embarrassing herself further. She walked with Fraser to the edge of the hill and she began the same routine on him as Penny had performed on Ray. “You've definitely done this before. You look great.” She said, looking admiringly at him. “I mean your, um...your stance looks great.”

“Thank you kindly. I have only skied with traditional wooden skis before.”

“I learned on wooden ones. No one uses them anymore these days.” She slid her hands up his arms to position them, but there wasn't anything to do really. He already knew what he was doing. She drew a sharp breath when she reached the top of his arms and felt his muscles through his coat. “Well you really don't need my help. Why don't you have a go on the children's slope?” Fraser agreed and she sent him down the slope.

“He's really good. He doesn't need lessons.” Penny said to Ray.

“He's good at everythin'.” Ray replied. “We're takin' em together though.” He looked at Penny.

Penny smiled at him and looked over his shoulder at a crowd of other people in the distance, but then the smiled faded and she completely spaced out.

Ray sighed. There was definitely something wrong and it was bothering him that she couldn't tell him. That was silly, though. He hadn't even known her for a day. “Penny? You OK?” he asked.

She blinked quickly and looked at him. “Why do you keep asking me that?” She hissed at him.

“Ya just seem...paranoid or, er, somethin'?”

She sighed. He was so right. She had failed to keep it from being obvious. “I'm sorry for snapping at you. I just...” She dropped her head into her hands.

“OK, it's your turn!” Caitlin shouted over her shoulder to Ray and Penny.

“We can talk about this later, OK?” Ray put a hand on her shoulder.

“No we won't. I can't.” Penny shook her head and led him over to the slope. She was very grateful for Caitlin's timing. She was so close to letting go and telling Ray everything...and therefore breaking her promise with Caitlin. It was getting harder to keep that promise since Fraser and Ray came into their lives. Penny changed her mood and even managed a slight smile, trying not to let Caitlin see right through her. “OK, why don't you go ahead and try going down the hill now. Wait...” She walked in front of Ray and refastened his helmet. “You didn't think I hadn't noticed that did you?” She grinned. 

Ray was still in a state of shock from seeing what she’d gone through moments earlier and her ability to recover from it so quickly amazed him. A lot of things about her amazed him. He had to smile back at her.

He didn't make it very far before he lost his balance and tumbled the rest of the way down. Penny quickly skied down after him and was at his side. “Are you OK?” She helped roll him over.

“Er, the, er, the sun was in my eyes,” he said while she helped him up.

She looked up at the sky and saw it was full of clouds. “Right, of course,” she laughed. They went back up the hill and he would tumble down it many, many...many more times that morning. They spent about an hour just trying to get Ray down the hill just once on his own.

“Are you OK?” Penny was at his side again and couldn't help but laugh. That last fall was pretty rough though. He did several full somersaults.

“Greatness!” He shouted sarcastically and stood up. “I'm done!” He charged back up the hill in front of Penny.

“What? You can't give up?” She caught up with him.

“I just can't do it.” They reached the top and he immediately dropped to the ground and began removing his skis.

“Ray, what are you doing?” Fraser asked and knelt down next to him.

“Givin' up.” He tried to pull off one of his skis, but Penny put her hand on his and wouldn't let him.

Caitlin sat down next to them. “Aw come on, we haven't been at this that long.” She pulled her glove off and looked at her watch. “Oh, maybe we have.”

“Ray, you have to practice something repeatedly in order to be good at it,” Fraser pointed out.

“Exactly,” agreed Penny and she started putting Ray's ski back on again. “Let's try again.”

Ray watched her and couldn't really say no now. She helped him up and wrapped an arm around his shoulders while they walked back to the slope. He managed to trip over himself and fall face first into the snow before they even got to the edge of the hill. She helped him to his feet and decided it was best not to say anything this time.

“You're too tense. You need to relax.” She gave him a little push down the hill. “And don't lock your knees!” She shouted while he slid down the hill successfully. Penny smiled and quietly applauded him while he fumbled back to the top. “What did I tell you? Anyone can do it Ray.” She patted his back as soon as he reached the top.

“Excellent job, Ray,” said Fraser.

Penny stood next to her sister and crossed her arms. “Why don't you guys take turns going down a couple times and then we'll take a break and get something to eat?” 

Fraser and Ray agreed and continued practicing.

“We're pretty good at this aren't we,” said Caitlin, looking at her sister, but Penny had spaced out again. “Are you OK?” she asked her.

Penny nodded and continued staring straight ahead.

Suddenly a weird feeling came over Caitlin and she turned around on instinct. A group of other skiers walked past behind her, but a particular one caught her eye. “Oh, Penny? Penny?”

“I know.” She answered without turning around.

“You knew?”

“I saw him earlier when you were working with Fraser.” She decided to turn around and watch the group walk away. “Maybe it's not him?”

“It might not be.” Caitlin agreed. “It's hard to be sure if...” She stopped suddenly as the man turned around and glanced at them. She took a huge breathe and Penny involuntarily stepped back. “Penny, no!” Caitlin reached for her sister, but it was too late. She was plummeting down the hill backwards on her skis. “Look out!” Caitlin called to Fraser and Ray who were talking at the bottom of the hill and she set off after Penny. She didn't realize that skiing down the hill beside her was more dangerous than helpful. 

Penny quickly lost her balance and tumbled to the side, taking Caitlin down with her. The two descended to the bottom of the hill together and crashed into Fraser and Ray, knocking them over like bowling pins.

“Are you alright?” Fraser pulled himself together and helped Caitlin to her feet.

“Yes I think.” She wiped snow off the front of her suit and noticed Fraser had hardly picked up any snow at all. The two looked down at Penny who was lying flat on top of Ray.

“I...I am so sorry.” Penny spoke softly and stared into his eyes. He looked just as stunned as she was. She sat up, still on top of him and he sat up with her. She waited until she caught her breathe to realize she was straddling his waist. “Sorry...again.” She moved off his lap and sat in the snow beside him.

“What happened?” Fraser asked Penny. “Are you both alright?”

Ray nodded and breathed a sigh of relief that someone had spoken because it was getting awkward for him and Penny.

“I... I…it was an accident,” replied Penny, trying to think of an excuse.

“Ah,” Fraser looked at them both with concern. “Of course this has been a valuable demonstration for Ray,” he continued.

“It has?” Penny frowned in confusion.

“Yes,” replied Fraser, puzzled that she didn’t seem to understand. He turned to Ray. “Penny’s rather uncontrolled descent naturally followed the most direct route down, often referred to as the fall line. You can see the effect this has on one’s velocity.”

“Of course,” smiled Caitlin, “that’s an important lesson, Ray.”

“OK,” shrugged Ray, “but next time yer gonna demonstrate somethin’, please do it upright, y’know, on the skis!”

“I’m sorry Ray,” now Penny was apologizing again, “I just tripped, didn’t I Cait.” She looked at her sister, hoping she would agree with her story.

Caitlin nodded quickly and Penny looked behind her at the top of the hill, scanning it over from side to side, but this time she didn’t see anyone.

Fraser and Ray shot each other looks. Clearly something had happened up there. They didn't know what but they were going to find out.


	7. Chapter 7

“Are you sure you’re OK?” a concerned Penny asked Ray for what seemed like the hundredth time that afternoon.

“I told ya I’m fine,” replied Ray, forcing a smile onto his face, “I can hardly, er, feel a thing.”

They’d all remained awkwardly silent through lunch and it was only after they’d finished eating and got up to leave that Ray had realised his left knee had started to swell. Now they were back at the cabin and Fraser had his friend’s knee resting on two pillows and was applying an ice pack.

“I’m so sorry,” Penny looked on the verge of tears.

“Hey,” Ray’s smile was more genuine now, “It’s nothin’, ya don’t have to keep apologising.”

Penny was only partly convinced. “OK, well let me get you something, tea, or, um, hot chocolate maybe? Or can I fix you a sandwich?”

Ray laughed, they’d only just finished lunch so he wasn’t at all hungry. “Y’know, hot chocolate might be nice, I, er, I don’t think my butt has thawed out yet.”

Penny laughed too this time and headed out to the kitchen where Caitlin was already searching through the cupboards looking for ideas for dinner. As soon as she was out of earshot, Ray’s face fell. “Fraser,” he hissed.

“Yes Ray?” replied Fraser, slightly concerned at the sudden change in his partner’s mood.

“Are ya sure it’s not broken?” whispered Ray. “The pain’s killin’ me here!”

Fraser frowned. “I’m quite sure Ray. You merely sustained a mild sprain during one of your many falls earlier, that’s all. It may have occurred before Penny’s collision with you actually, your body took quite a pounding this morning.”

“OK, OK,” hissed Ray, scowling at his buddy, “I get it, I can’t do the skiing thing. I did try to quit, if ya remember.”

“Yes I do remember,” agreed Fraser, “now just keep your knee elevated and iced and I’m sure the swelling will reduce significantly over the next few hours and you’ll be back on your skis in no time.”

Ray looked disappointed. “So it’s definitely not broken?” he asked again, “it’s just that…well, it hurts like hell, buddy.”

“Definitely,” confirmed Fraser, “besides, I thought you informed Penny that your pain level was insignificant?”

Ray took a moment to process Fraser’s vocabulary. He was quite sure he hadn’t used the word ‘insignificant’. “Well, er, yeah,” he finally admitted, “but….I didn’t want her to think…”

“Ah, understood,” replied Fraser with a wink, “you are trying to impress the young lady with your bravery and strength.”

Ray scowled again. That sounded stupid…he wasn’t trying to appear strong, or brave, like some kind of hero, he just didn’t want her to think he was a total wimp. “So what d’ya think spooked ‘em both earlier?” he asked, still keeping his voice low as he tried to change the subject.

“I have no idea,” admitted Fraser, “I was hoping they would enlighten us over lunch.”

Ray shook his head sadly. “Whatever it was freaked ‘em out.”

Fraser nodded. Just then Penny and Caitlin returned with steaming mugs. “How’s the knee?” asked Caitlin.

“It’s just fine,” replied Ray, “it’s not like it’s broken, or anythin’.”

Fraser rolled his eyes and Dief made a sarcastic growling noise in the back of his throat.

“I’m glad to hear it,” smiled Caitlin. “I’ve never seen you so out of control on a ski slope before, Pen,” she laughed.

Penny wasn’t laughing though and she scowled at her sister. Dief wandered over and nuzzled into Penny’s hand and the young woman began to pet him.

“Accidents can happen at any time,” stated Fraser.

“Yeah,” mumbled Penny. “I said I was sorry,” she added abruptly, glancing at Caitlin.

Ray sipped at his hot chocolate for a moment, wondering how best to say what he wanted to say next. “Um, Penny,” he began, “look, y’know I’m a cop, right, a detective. So, er, earlier on I kinda detected, um…”

Penny’s bottom lip began to tremble, she knew exactly what he was talking about of course, but she and her sister had agreed that they were going to forget about it all and move on with the rest of their lives. If they took the risk of telling someone, especially someone they’d only just met, it might never be over. She looked over at Caitlin who shrugged. “What’s that meant to mean?” Penny hissed at her. Fraser and Ray were a little stunned.

“If you’re in any trouble, perhaps we could be of assistance?” offered Fraser, gingerly.

“Maybe…maybe they could help?” Caitlin suggested.

Penny leapt to her feet. “No!” she exclaimed, “you said…we agreed…I can’t…” but she couldn’t form any kind of coherent sentence before the tears came and she ran into the bedroom.

“Oh dear,” muttered Fraser, he hadn’t wanted to upset her, but it was clear now that something was very wrong indeed. He looked over at Caitlin, she was getting upset now too and he felt an overwhelming urge to hold her, to make her feel safe, but he resisted.

“Look, we’re here because something happened back home,” Caitlin started to explain, the words catching in the back of her throat. “There was this guy…the details don’t matter, but Penny and I made a pact that we were going to start new lives and never even mention his name again. Except now…”

“Except ya saw him here didn’t ya,” Ray finished, starting to piece things together.

“I don’t know,” replied Caitlin, “we both thought we saw him, but maybe it was just someone who looks like him? I don’t see how he could possibly know we’re here, we didn’t leave any trace, we were really careful….” her voice trailed off. “I’m sorry,” she said eventually, “I didn’t realise we were still this jumpy about it all.”

“Is this man dangerous?” asked Fraser, rather concerned now. “If, indeed, he has followed you here, do you fear for your safety?”

Caitlin simply nodded and bit hard on her lower lip. “I’d better go see if she’s OK,” she whispered, nodding towards the bedroom door. “She never used to be like this…” her voice cracked, “she used to laugh all the time…he…he made her like this…” and she ran off after her sister.

“Woah,” Ray drew a sharp breath, “this guy sounds like a real…er, creep,” he said, avoiding a much stronger word that was on the tip of his tongue.

“Indeed,” agreed Fraser. “However, if they are unwilling to furnish us with further details there is little we can do other than stay alert.”

Ray sighed, if only his damned knee wasn’t swollen up like a balloon he’d have gone after Penny himself. He felt a connection with her, he really wanted to get to know her better and he wanted her to trust him enough to be able to tell her about whatever she’d been through. He and Fraser finished their drinks in silence.

It was about half an hour before the girls finally reappeared, it was obvious that they’d both been crying. Penny was the first to speak. “I’m sorry guys,” she said, “I didn’t mean to…well, I kinda made a fool of myself didn’t I.”

“Not at all,” smiled Fraser, reassuringly.

“We just want to help, that’s all,” Ray added and he smiled at her too.

Penny nodded and seated herself in a chair with Caitlin taking the other chair. “OK, so Caity and I have been talking and…well, talking and crying…look, we had this dumb idea that we could just forget about it all, but we can’t…” she sighed a deep sigh. “He, um, was my boss,” Penny continued quietly, “I was his accounts administrator, believe it or not I’m good with figures.” 

“I was the production supervisor,” added Caitlin, “I’d worked there for years, it was me who got Pen the job in the first place.” She bowed her head sadly.

“None of this is your fault, Sis,” Penny said encouragingly. “Anyway, I found out that he’d been skimming money from the business, a little here, a few hundred dollars there, he’d been doing it for years. I didn’t believe it at first, but I went over and over the books and it was all there.”

“Did ya call the cops?” asked Ray.

“I didn’t know what to do,” replied Penny, “I was going to go straight to the Police, but Cait and I couldn’t afford to lose our jobs. If I was wrong we’d both have been fired. I was going to confront him about it, maybe there was a reasonable explanation, I was going to give him the chance to put it right…”

“We thought he was a decent guy,” Caitlin took over now, “but we were so wrong. Penny called me up to her office one day and told me everything,” she explained, “we decided we should confront him together, but we didn’t get a chance. He overheard us talking and then he came in and he was angry at first, but then he kind of changed, he came out with all of these excuses. He was being so nice, too nice, it was creepy, but we didn’t know how to react, did we Pen.”

“No,” agreed Penny, “I didn’t know what to do after that, so I just did nothing. I didn’t want to risk both our jobs…but then over the next few days he started threatening me…” her voice trailed off.

“He said he would implicate Penny in the whole thing and she’d go to jail,” explained Caitlin. “He even said he’d…he said he’d kill me if she didn’t help him with the fraud.”

Penny was crying again now. “Then one night, I was working late and I thought he’d left the building, but he hadn’t and I think he’d been drinking and…”

“Something made me go up and check on her,” said Caitlin, “I don’t know why I did that, I was going to go straight home, but I just had this weird feeling and I went up to the office and…” she had to stop to take a deep breath, “and he was beating her…so badly…I thought he was going to kill her.” Caitlin got up from her chair and walked away from the group as she broke down again. 

Fraser joined her at the window. Again he was fighting the urge to hold her tightly and tell her everything would be alright, but it felt inappropriate at this juncture. Instead he put a steadying hand on her shoulder. “It sounds like you saved her life,” he said gently.

“She did,” agreed Penny, “he ran off and we decided right there and then that we were just going to leave and never come back. So we packed a few things and left town. We stayed with our cousin for a few months while we figured out what we were going to do and then the jobs came up here. We’ve always loved skiing, we’ve been coming every year since we were kids, so we applied and here we are. This was meant to be our new start, but now he’s here…how did he find us?”

“Don’t worry, OK,” Ray said. “If it is really him then we’re not gonna let him get away with what he did to ya.”

Penny looked into his eyes. For the first time she allowed herself to really look and she finally realised that she could trust him. She felt a huge sense of relief wash over her, finally being able to tell someone and sharing the terrible secret they’d been holding onto for so long had felt so good. She leapt off her chair and ran to Ray, sitting on the edge of the sofa and hugging him tightly. “Thank you,” she whispered in his ear.

“Hey watch the knee!” Ray exclaimed.

“Sorry,” she replied, breaking away. “OK,” she said, taking a deep breath, “come on, let’s go out. There’s that club in town, it’s meant to be a great place, I feel like partying tonight.”

Fraser glanced at Caitlin with a puzzled frown. Caitlin smiled. “That’s my Sis,” she grinned as Penny skipped off to the bedroom to get changed, “she’s a party animal…at least she used to be. She hasn’t been out to a club since…well, since it happened.”

“Are you also a party animal?” asked Fraser, slightly concerned at what the answer might be.

“Not really,” replied Caitlin shaking her head, “I go with her sometimes, but I like to be home by midnight, apparently that makes me a lightweight!” she laughed.

“Like Cinderella,” smiled Fraser, his tongue darting out and coating his lower lip as the words escaped before his brain had chance to stop him.

Caitlin blushed hard. “Well, I’m always on the lookout for Prince Charming,” she smiled.

Ray grinned to himself. His knee was throbbing and the last thing he felt like doing was going to a club, he certainly wouldn’t be doing much dancing, but it sounded like fun anyway, especially if his buddy and Caitlin were going to be gazing into each other’s eyes all evening. Maybe he could do some gazing of his own? Suddenly his knee wasn’t hurting quite so much after all.

xXx

 

“I can’t believe you dragged me away before midnight!” Penny giggled as she pushed open the door of the cabin, “I’ve never left a club earlier than Caitlin before.”

“I’m sorry,” replied Ray, hobbling up the step, “my knee’s just kinda aching, it’s fine really, but I think I was done with dancin’ for one night. Fraser said he’d bring me back though, ya coulda stayed.”

Penny smiled, “I know, but I didn’t want to break those two up,” she grinned, “they were having a good time.”

“Sure were,” agreed Ray. He draped his arm over Penny’s shoulder and leaned on her slightly as the two of them headed for the sofa. “Fraser dances like a stick, but, er, Caitlin didn’t seem to mind.”

Penny laughed. That was a very accurate description of the Mountie’s dancing, she thought. The two of them stumbled across the room, giggling as Ray played up to his bad knee, dragging his leg behind him and moaning dramatically. “Oh Ray,” Penny laughed, “anyone would think you didn’t want to ski tomorrow.” She wrapped her arm round his waist.

“Why would ya think that?” laughed Ray, “I love skiin’…er, it’s just that skiin’ doesn’t like me much.” 

She and Ray sat on the sofa and they still had their arms around each other, neither wanted to move them. Penny liked being this close to him. They’d had a lovely evening, Ray was a good dancer, unlike Fraser and he hadn’t left her side the whole time. Penny had really enjoyed letting her hair down, she hadn’t felt so relaxed in a long time. She used to be out almost every night, she had a large group of friends back home, male and female and there was always a club, or a party to go to. She rarely drank, not many of her friends did, they just enjoyed the music and the buzz of whichever place they were at and each other’s company and that had always been enough. Penny missed it terribly, her world had completely changed and tonight had reminded her just how much. She glanced at Ray. “Thanks,” she said.

“What for?” asked Ray, frowning.

“I had a great time this evening,” she explained, “really great.”

Ray smiled. “Me too,” he replied. He hadn’t had so much fun in years. Why stop now? Maybe this was a bad idea, he thought, but what the hell… He moved his face closer to hers, looking into her eyes and hesitating slightly just in case she slapped him, or something, but she didn’t. Then they were kissing, passionately and desperately. She pushed him back onto the sofa as the intensity increased and soon they had to stop for breath. 

Penny threw her hair back over her shoulders. “Bed?” she breathed. Ray gasped and his eyes widened. “Oh god, I’m sorry,” Penny hung her head, what had she been thinking?

“Hey, no, it’s OK,” Ray smiled. “I just, I mean, I wasn’t expecting…” he didn’t really know what to say. It had been a long time since a girl had begged him to go to bed with her, in fact he couldn’t really remember it ever happening like this before.

Penny clambered off him, she was so embarrassed and angry with herself now. “I should just…I mean…” and she tried to walk away.

Ray wasn’t about to let her though, he was breathing heavily now and he sat up and grabbed her hand. “Don’t, er…” he smiled, “don’t go without me.”

Penny’s heart skipped a beat, she really needed this…she needed him. She pulled him by the hand and Ray half hobbled and half ran into the bedroom with her.


	8. Chapter 8

Fraser held the door open for Caitlin as the two walked out of the club and began walking down the road to their cabin. “Wow, it's late,” Caitlin said, pulling up her sleeve and looking down at the thin watch wrapped around her wrist. “I've never stayed at a club so long.”

“Nor have I.” Fraser thought about it and realized he had never gone to a club for a reason that wasn't Police work related and even then he hadn't enjoyed himself at all. Tonight he almost felt comfortable there. Maybe because Caitlin was nearly as uncomfortable as he was.

“Penny must feel awful for Ray.” Caitlin stuck her hands in her pockets and looked at Fraser walking beside her. “I've never seen her leave the club that early for any reason,” she laughed.

“She has been blaming herself for the incident. It was only an accident.”

“Yes it was.” She looked at the ground and the two stayed awkwardly silent for a minute. “Are you really going to help us?”

Fraser faced her. “Of course, we'll do everything we can.”

“I just...I just don't want Penny to get her hopes up and then...” She sighed. Of course she was getting her hopes up too. She had to convince Penny this was a good idea and if it turned out badly she didn't know what would happen between them.

“I understand,” said Fraser and they continued walking. “I promise you that Ray and I will get to the bottom of this. You don't have to be afraid.”

She smiled at him. How did he know she was scared? Was it that obvious? He could read her like a book. He seemed so reassuring. She hadn't felt safe like this in so long.

By then they’d reached the cabin and they saw the kitchen light was on. Fraser hesitated opening the door and thought how Ray would reprimand him for interrupting whatever he and Penny were discussing. “Perhaps we should continue our walk?”

“Oh OK.” She agreed.

“I doubt we'll be able to talk properly over Dief's snoring.” Of course he could hear Dief snoring loudly through the door. Caitlin could even vaguely hear it.

They talked for hours, Caitlin felt so relaxed in his company, it was as if she'd known him forever. When they got back to the cabin it was quiet, but the light in the kitchen was still on. Fraser noticed straight away Ray was not sleeping in his own bed. I hope he knows what he's doing, he thought to himself.

xXxXxXx

The next morning, Fraser was the first one awake as usual and had started breakfast in the kitchen. Caitlin had really enjoyed their walk last night. She hadn't felt so calm in...well she couldn't remember the last time. She’d even slept better than she had in months. She hoped Penny had had a nice evening with Ray and that he had made her sister feel the way Fraser had made her feel.

“Morning.” Caitlin appeared behind Fraser who was hovering over the stove.

“Good morning.” He turned around and smiled at her. “How would you like your eggs?”

“Um, over easy.” She moved out of the way and sat down at the table.

Fraser nodded and cracked another egg on the edge of the frying pan. “Did you sleep well?”

She smiled. “Very well.” She cleared her throat and glanced behind her at the hallway. “Have Ray and Penny been up yet?”

“Er, not that I'm aware of.” He didn't feel it was necessary to discuss their sleeping arrangements at this juncture. If Penny and Caitlin were as close as they looked she'd find out on her own anyway. “I'll be back. I'm just going to find Diefenbaker. He's probably still asleep on the bed.”

Caitlin smiled and watched him disappear down the hallway. As soon as he was gone, Penny's door opened and Caitlin stood up to greet her sister. She nearly had a heart attack when she saw Ray emerge from her room. Ray was still half asleep and didn't even notice Caitlin was watching him. He carried on down the hall to the bathroom and closed the door. Caitlin stared at Penny's door for a minute before snapping herself out of her trance and marching in there.

“What do you think you're doing, Sis?” Caitlin slammed the door behind her, startling Penny who was turned towards the bed, buttoning her shirt.

“What...what do you mean?” Penny forced a smile and hoped she wasn't suggesting what she thought she was.

“I'm not stupid, I saw Ray walk out of here.” She crossed her arms. “I can't believe you took advantage of him like that.”

“Took advantage of him? What are you talking about?” Penny sat on the edge of the bed and put on her shoes.

“You mean he was just in here for a friendly conversation at seven in the morning?” Penny didn't answer that. “Did you have sex with him?”

“Caitlin!” She exclaimed louder then she'd intended and hoped Ray and Fraser hadn't heard her.

“Did you?”

Penny swallowed hard and dropped her shoulders. “Yes...” she said quietly and Caitlin dropped her head in her hands. “...but I'm certainly not taking advantage of him!”

“I can't believe you.” Caitlin started pacing around the room and Penny dropped her head sorrowfully. “They're trying to help us and...and you're...”

“Ray and I were both on the same page when we went into it. He wanted to just as much as I did, Sis.” Penny looked up at her sister with tears in her eyes. “I…I had fun last night for the first time in...since...I mean...” Her voice cracked and she decided not to continue her thought.

Caitlin felt terrible suddenly. Maybe she was wrong? Ray seemed like a nice guy, really nice. He and Fraser willing to help them while on their vacation seemed like a dream. They were being incredibly generous. She just wished Penny wouldn’t express her gratitude in such a direct way. 

This was such an emotional time for both her and her sister. She hadn't meant to make Penny cry. “OK, I'm sorry.” She sat down on the bed next to her. “I'm just trying to look out for you. Make sure you know what you're doing. I don't want you to get hurt.” She moved a strand of hair away from Penny’s eyes and pushed it behind her ear.

“I know.” Penny stopped crying and smiled, genuinely this time. “I think I can handle my own sex life though,” she grinned.

“I'm really glad you're having fun again,” said Caitlin and pulled her sister into a hug.

Ray stopped in front of the bedroom door and heard the girls mumbling about something. He decided it was best not to interrupt them, although he wished he could hear what they were talking about. If only he had hearing like Fraser. 

Ray walked into the kitchen and grabbed a cup for coffee off the counter. “Morning, buddy,” he said.

“Good morning, Ray. Did you have an enjoyable evening with Penny? Conversing I mean...obviously.” Fraser unnecessarily corrected himself.

“Er, yeah we, er, had a nice time,” replied Ray. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down.

“I'm glad to hear that. Did you sleep well?”

“Er, yeah…” …Eventually, Ray thought to himself and grinned.

“Ray,” Fraser started and sat down next to his partner. “I noticed you weren't in bed last night. Now of course you might have been on a leisurely walk outside, or perhaps...”

“You suck at lying, Fraser,” Ray sighed.

“Understood,” Fraser nodded. “I just want to make sure you know what you're doing.”

Ray laughed. “Thanks, but I think I can handle my, er, sex life.”

“I'm perfectly aware of that Ray, and I'm pleased you're having a healthy, er...” He cleared his throat and moved on to more important matters. “I just want to remind you we'll be leaving in a few days and I don't want you to get too attached, physically and emotionally, to this woman. She's in a quite a state at the moment and...”

“I'm not usin' her buddy, if that's what yer diggin' at. If I wanted that I could just pay a girl on the street back in Chicago. We're just havin' some fun.”

“Of course Ray. I'm glad you're having...fun.” The Mountie's face turned red and he returned to the kitchen.

“Hey ya know you could have some fun yerself with Caitlin. She seems to like ya,” Ray winked.

Fraser's face turned even redder than he thought possible. “No thank you Ray, I think I'll leave all the fun to you.” He hadn't thought of Caitlin in that way, only strictly as an independent woman who's current situation had made her more vulnerable than normal...well OK, maybe he had thought of her in a different way once. Or twice. No, just once…last night. She looked beautiful under the stars and moon. And the snow scene behind her made her stand out even more... a woman who enjoyed these conditions was so rare in Chicago.

“Aw come on, this is what ya signed up for. Hookin' up with some hot ski instructors!” grinned Ray.

Fraser set the table and filled the plates with eggs and bacon. “At the time I thought that was a joke.”

“Yeah so did I...” Ray started to space out, but then the girls entered the kitchen and brought his attention back.

“Breakfast is ready,” Fraser said and the girls took their seats at the table.

Penny looked up at Ray and they stared into each other’s eyes for a while before they began to eat. 

Caitlin rolled her eyes.

They really didn't know what to say to each other. What was appropriate after a night like that? He was a bit worried he would develop some real feeling for her. Of course he already had, they both had, but not really serious feelings for her. She was a partier and that wasn't exactly his type. Or what he thought his type was anyway.

Dief started barking loudly down the hall startled everyone and Caitlin dropped her fork. Fraser quickly retrieved it and brought her a new one. “Thanks,” she smiled. “Has Dief run off again?”

Penny stood up. “I'll go see what he's up to.”

“No I insist.” Fraser began to stand up, but she stopped him.

“Fraser, you made breakfast. It's the least I can do,” she smiled at him and then she smiled at Ray and walked off down the hall. She couldn't quite stop smiling at Ray. They would shoot each other looks for absolutely no reason. She was really using visiting Dief as an excuse to think about what to say when she returned. It was awkwardly quiet this morning.

Fraser and Ray stared down the hallway impatiently waiting for Penny to return.

“Hey,” Caitlin said sharply, attracting their attention. “Relax guys, I'm sure he just saw a rat or something.”

“Rats?” Ray almost choked on his food.

“Well we are in a cabin that could easily be over a hundred years old.” Fraser said. “I'm sure it's quite possible for a rodent population to have moved in during the cabin's vacancy.”

Suddenly there was a loud scream from down the hall and Dief had stopped barking. Everyone jumped up and ran down the hall.

“Pen?” Caitlin rounded the corner of the room and saw Penny and Dief standing at the bedroom. Dief had started barking out the window again. “What's wrong? What happened?” She was immediately at her sister’s side and gazing out the window with her.

Penny turned around and faced the boys. “I...I saw him. He was here. He was looking in the window, looking for us.”

Caitlin had a terrible feeling she was going to say that. “Did he see you?”

Penny nodded. “I think so.”

Ray put a hand under her shaky arm and steadied her to a chair. He walked out the door without saying another word.

“Ray,” Fraser called as he met Ray outside in the snow. He was scanning the area but there was no sign of anyone. “Anything?”

“He's long gone,” Ray sighed and started heading back.

“Wait,” Fraser grabbed his friend's shoulder and spun him around. “Tracks.” He pointed to the snow.

Somehow Ray hadn't thought to look there. He really wasn't used to all this snow. “It just goes off into the woods,” Ray noted. “What's he doin' in there?”

“Perhaps there's a trail leading to another cabin?”

“Well what are we waiting for, let's get this creep.” Ray took another step forward and Fraser held him back again.

“Not now Ray.”

“Why not?”

“Well first of all” The Mountie started. “We're not dressed appropriately for what could potentially manifest into hours of walking in an unfamiliar location.” 

Ray looked down and realized he was still in his pajamas. Well that explains why I'm freezing out here! He thought to himself. “OK, so we'll get some coats.”

“It's starting to snow as well,” continued Fraser. “By the time we make any progress the tracks might be covered over with fresh snow and then we might find ourselves lost.”

Ray sighed. He was right of course. “This sucks. He came right to us and gave us a trail to his house and we can't do nothin' about it.”

“Anything, Ray, not nothing.”

“Whatever,” Ray shrugged and Fraser followed him back to the cabin. Ray had to change his mindset back to the girls now. He could still do something after all. He could comfort Penny.

“Did you find anything?” Penny dried her eyes as the boys approached them. She and Caitlin had clearly been crying a lot since they left.

Ray shook his head much to their disappointment and sat down next to Penny. He really wanted to give them some good news. They deserved some encouragement after all this.

Fraser knelt down beside Penny's chair. “Penny, were you able to confirm the man's identity this time?”

Penny nodded and tears filled her eyes again. “It's definitely him. He’s here.”

Ray pulled her close to him and let her cry in his arms.


	9. Chapter 9

That morning Ray booked Penny for an extra long ski lesson and he worked extra hard on his skiing. He still seemed to be spending a lot of time face down in the snow, but it was making Penny laugh so he didn’t really mind. As lunchtime approached he was actually able to ski down the training slope and stop at the bottom without falling over. “I think they call that progress, Ray,” smiled Penny.

Ray grinned back. “So when do I get to go on a real mountain?” 

Penny laughed. “Don’t push your luck,” she said. She was so grateful to Ray for taking her attention this morning, she hadn’t even been looking over her shoulder that much.

They packed up their skis and headed to the clubhouse for lunch. The waitress was just walking over with their drinks when Fraser arrived.

“Hey buddy!” Ray called out and Fraser raised his hand in acknowledgement. “I can ski now,” Ray announced with a grin.

Penny giggled. His excitement reminded her of some of the little kids she’d taught before. “Well you’re getting there Ray,” she smiled.

“I’m very glad to hear it,” nodded Fraser. He sat across the table from Penny on one of the flimsy wooden chairs and pulled a neatly folded piece of paper from his pocket. “I telephoned Francesca this morning,” he explained, “I discovered one or two interesting things about Mr Brewer.”

Penny drew a sharp breath at the mention of his name. “What kind of things?” she asked quietly.

Ray took the paper from Fraser and raised his eyebrows as he scanned down the neatly written notes. “He’s best buddies with some of the, er, lowest lowlifes in Salt Lake City,” began Ray, “and he has previous for assault.”

“Unfortunately he has evaded prosecution thus far,” Fraser explained, drawing his left thumb over his eyebrow as he spoke.

Penny nodded slowly. “Assault,” she repeated quietly. Just hearing the word took her all the way back to that night. 

“Yeah,” Ray confirmed, “looks like he’s got a pretty sharp lawyer keepin’ his ass outta jail.” Ray sighed and tried to give Penny a supportive smile. What he really wanted to do was kick something, preferably the guy’s head.

“I have also asked Francesca to make further enquiries into the financial history of the company,” Fraser explained.

“So now he’s come here to…” Penny’s voice trailed off. Her head was spinning, she came here to ski, that’s all, it was meant to be a new start for her and her sister and this morning had been exactly how she imagined her new life would be, but now she had to face the fact that her past had caught up with her. She had to deal with it. The only thing holding her together was that Ray and Fraser were there to help.

“We don’t know that he has come here with the intention of causing you harm,” Fraser tried to reassure her. 

Ray rolled his eyes, of course they knew it, he thought to himself, you didn’t need to be a detective to know that the bastard hadn’t just happened to pick this very ski resort for a vacation.

Penny looked around, she was starting to worry about Caitlin, she thought her sister was going to meet them there for lunch, but now she was late. Penny glanced at her watch and Fraser caught her concerned look.

“Perhaps I’ll take a walk outside,” said Fraser, getting to his feet, “I’m sure Caitlin has simply been delayed with her pupils.” He wasn’t at all convinced though and started to wish he’d stayed with her this morning. Fraser hadn’t got as far as the door when to his relief, Caitlin walked in. “Ah, we were beginning to…” he began, but he stopped talking as soon as he saw who was walking in beside her.

“Look…look who I met,” said Caitlin, unable to keep her voice from trembling.

“Are you the Mountie? I’m Mitch Brewer,” the man shook a stunned Fraser by the hand.

They’d only been here a couple of days, but already everyone knew ‘The Mountie’, thought Ray. This guy has some nerve just walking in here like nothing’s happened. Ray stood up, but stayed protectively by Penny’s side.

“Constable Benton Fraser,” the Mountie introduced himself, “may I ask why you’re here?”

“I’ve been looking for the Knight sisters,” explained Brewer, then he looked directly at Penny, “and I’m so glad I’ve found you girls, I’ve been worried about you, I don’t think we parted on the best of terms.”

Ray’s fists clenched by his sides, he couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on.

“Shall we sit down?” asked Brewer, crossing to the table where Penny and Ray were. 

Penny squeezed Ray’s hand as the man got closer. “Don’t worry,” said Ray quietly, “I’m not gonna let this creep do anythin’ to hurt ya.”

Fraser put a supportive hand on Caitlin’s back as they all sat down around the table. “Mr Brewer, Miss Knight has made some rather serious allegations against you,” Fraser kept his voice even as he spoke, “neither myself nor Detective Vecchio here have any jurisdiction in this state, but we have a duty to inform the local Police department of your presence.”

Mitch Brewer sighed. “I believe you may have been lead to believe certain things about me that are untrue,” he said. Then he looked from Penny to Caitlin and back to Penny. “I came here to offer you both your jobs back, to show you there are no hard feelings, but if you’re planning to have me arrested then I guess I’ll have to withdraw my generous offer.”

“Miss Knight has described a rather violent assault,” said Fraser. “Are you denying that accusation?”

“Of course I’m denying it!” exclaimed Brewer. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He didn’t want these people to see they were getting to him. “Look, Constable,” he began, “I admit there was a rather unfortunate incident…”

“Unfortunate!” Caitlin exclaimed, she couldn’t hold back any longer, “you nearly killed my sister!”

“Caitlin,” hissed Penny, she wanted to let Ray and Fraser handle things. She knew what Brewer was like, she knew he was smart and manipulative and she didn’t want her sister to say something that he could use against them.

“I don’t know what you’ve been saying, Penny,” frowned Brewer, “but you know exactly what happened. You’re lucky I didn’t call the Police myself.”

“Are ya sayin’ you’re just, er, some innocent guy?” Ray waded in now, “ya did nothin’ wrong?”

“I’m sorry you all have to hear this,” replied Brewer, then he turned to Caitlin. “I know you love your sister, but she needs help.”

“What!” Penny suddenly found her voice.

“You need help, you violent bastard!” Caitlin yelled at him.

“Hey, I came here to give you girls another chance, not to be insulted,” Brewer got up to leave, “I’m sorry if I was giving off the wrong signals, but I have a girlfriend already, I’m not the kind of guy to sleep around with any girl that throws herself at me and believe me I’ve had plenty of opportunities.”

Ray angrily got to his feet again, ignoring Fraser’s warning glare. “What exactly are ya sayin’ pal?”

The girls were both speechless now and tears stung Penny’s eyes. 

“What I’m saying is Penny here didn’t like it when I said no,” Brewer tried to explain, “I shouldn’t have let it get as far as it did and I can only apologise, but it was just a kiss. When a pretty girl wants to throw herself at you, even if you know she’s had too much to drink, it’s not easy sometimes. Surely you guys know what that’s like.”

That was enough for Ray, he wasn’t going to stand there and let this creep insult Penny in this way. He lunged across the table and grabbed Brewer by the collar. “I don’t know what kinda fantasy you’re livin’ in,” he said, “but don’t worry, you’re comin’ back to the real world right now.”

“Get your hands off me, Detective,” Mitch Brewer stared Ray straight in the eye.

Ray stared back. He still had a tight grip on the man, he couldn’t figure him out. He certainly was a smooth operator, Ray thought. Usually Ray could see right through people if they were blatantly lying, but this guy was being very clever, he was clearly used to deceiving people. Reluctantly he released the man, shoving him back as he did so and Brewer stumbled backwards as he fought to maintain his balance.

Then no one moved for a moment. Ray was waiting for Fraser to make a move, but Fraser was waiting for the right moment. They both knew they had to play this carefully, the last thing they wanted was for Brewer’s lawyers to have any kind of ammunition against them. Finally Fraser spoke. “May I suggest that we all visit the local Police station,” he said, “they will take your statements and proceed from there.”

“You mean you’re going to allow this girl to make formal charges against me,” asked Brewer incredulously, “without a single shred of evidence? Come along now Constable, I think you know how badly that will end for Penny.”

“If you’re innocent as you say Mr Brewer then you have nothing to worry about,” Fraser pointed out.

Brewer stared at Fraser for a moment, then he shook his head and stormed off. Before he had time to get to the door, Fraser was standing in his way. Brewer spun around, looking for another way out, but by now Ray was standing behind him.

“I’m sorry Mr Brewer, but I cannot allow you to leave,” said Fraser, keeping his voice even, “therefore I am performing a citizen’s arrest.” Fraser reached out and put his hand firmly on Brewer’s shoulder.

The man shook himself free, but then Ray and Fraser grabbed hold of his arms. “Get off me!” Brewer exclaimed. “I guess everything I’ve heard about Canadians isn’t true after all.”

“Yeah, don’t believe everythin’ ya hear,” snarled Ray, gripping tighter.

Mitch Brewer took a deep breath. “Constable Fraser,” he began, not acting at all like someone who was being restrained, “I strongly suggest that you stop all this right now, or you may just regret it.”

“Are ya threatenin’ us now?” asked Ray, desperately resisting the urge to kick this guy in the head.

“I’m merely suggesting that we could avoid unnecessary…complications,” replied Brewer. 

Fraser glanced at Penny, she knew this man better than any of them, so Fraser decided to follow her lead. 

“Let him go,” Penny hung her head as she spoke.

“What!” exclaimed Caitlin, “you can’t be serious? He should be in jail for what he’s done to you and what about the fraud? You can’t let him get away with this. Fraser, tell her.”

“Let him go.” This time Penny’s voice was louder and she looked pleadingly at Fraser. “Please.”

A sly grin spread across Mitch Brewer’s face as Fraser let go of his arm and took a step back. Ray didn’t move. “Didn’t you hear the lady?” Brewer’s grin was wider now. Ray still didn’t move.

“Ray, Ray, Ray, RAY!” Fraser completely understood what his friend was trying to do, but he could also see that the current situation wasn’t getting them anywhere.

“Ray, please!” Penny yelled. 

Ray sighed and released the man. “This ain’t over,” he said.

Brewer just smiled at Penny and left.

“What the hell are you thinking?” Caitlin was fuming. “We had him! We had him right here, we could have had him arrested and charged today and this would have all been over.”

“No it wouldn’t,” replied Penny, shaking her head, “don’t you get it? Even if the Police had believed me and not him, this would have just been the start of it. We’d have to get a lawyer and there’d be a court case...I don’t want any of that, I just want this to be over.”

“Your sister is correct Caitlin,” Fraser added, “I’m afraid pressing charges at this juncture would not be easy.”

“Whose side are you on?” snapped Caitlin. 

“It’s not a case of taking sides,” Fraser tried to explain, “I’m merely trying to point out the difficulties involved. However Ray and I would provide you with any assistance and support that you need.”

Caitlin smiled. She felt guilty for snapping at him, but she couldn’t understand how easily her sister appeared to have given up when they’d come so close. She turned to Penny. “It’s not too late to change your mind,” she said, “he can’t have gotten far, we could still catch him and haul his ass to jail. He deserves to be punished for what he’s done and you heard Fraser, you won’t be alone. I’m here for you and now we have two cops on our side, that has to count for something?”

“Cait, I already told you, I just want to forget about it all,” sighed Penny, “isn’t that why we came here in the first place? If I’d wanted to go to the cops I’d have done it back home.”

Caitlin couldn’t think of anything else to say so she just hugged her sister. She really hoped she’d be able to talk Penny into changing her mind. The guy was such a creep and it didn’t make any sense to her that he’d simply come all this way to try to smoothe things over. Maybe he was just hoping he could turn on the charm and talk his way out of it, Caitlin wondered.

Ray had been strangely quiet, trying to resist the urge to run after Brewer. His nostrils flared as he tried desperately not to do anything D.U.M dumb. He respected Penny’s wishes of course...but clearly Penny wasn’t thinking straight. 

Ray couldn’t figure out where Fraser stood on this whole situation either and he didn’t want to fight with either his best buddy or his new...his thoughts drifted off for a moment. What was Penny to him now anyway...his girlfriend? No, not even close. Sure they’d really hit it off in the last couple of days, she was fun to be around and she understood him, which was greatness of course and she was amazing in bed, but right now Penny was a good friend and nothing more. Well, a good friend and a lover anyway. He remembered reading an article in one of Frannie’s dumb magazines, these days they called that ‘friends with benefits’ and it was cool. Uncomplicated. No pressure. He liked that, it didn’t make his head hurt. 

Penny noticed him over Caitlin’s shoulder and was concerned by his pensive manner. “Ray, it’s OK, I promise,” she said, breaking out of her sister’s hug. “Really, I’m OK.”

Now it was Ray’s turn to hug her. He didn’t believe her at all, she was far from OK, he realised, but he didn’t think it was worth upsetting her any more by pursuing this now. He took two deep breaths and tried to calm down. “OK Pen,” he said, “we’ll, er, we’ll do whatever ya want, won’t we buddy.”

“Of course,” nodded Fraser. 

Then Caitlin surprised the Mountie with a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you,” she half whispered. Penny might well be claiming to be OK, she thought to herself, but I most certainly am not OK.

Fraser’s face flushed red. “Ah, um…” he cleared his throat, “you’re most welcome of course, um, ah…” he cleared his throat again. Caitlin felt slightly guilty for making him feel so uncomfortable, but she found his embarrassment slightly endearing.

xXx

“OK this whole thing sucks,” Penny announced suddenly. “I will not let Mitch Brewer ruin my life any more, we came here to ski, so let’s go ski!”

“Pen, it’s still dark outside,” Ray’s voice was croaky.

“Open your eyes Ray,” laughed Penny, pulling a sweater out of her suitcase.

Ray opened one eye. “Oh,” he said, the disappointment evident in his voice, “well just let me, er, let me wallow here for another few minutes.” He closed his eye again and turned over, pulling the pillows over his head.

Penny sighed. “But I want to get out there before it gets too busy. I’ve got a client booked for eleven anyway.”

“OK, OK…” Ray reluctantly got out of the bed and followed Penny out of the bedroom.

“Good morning,” said Fraser, brightly. 

Ray could never understand how his buddy could be so wide awake without coffee. At that moment Fraser surprised him with a mug of coffee. “Oh,” said Ray, it was too early in the morning for Ray to work out how Fraser could do stuff like that, “er, thanks buddy.”

Caitlin put bowls and spoons on the table. “Did you sleep OK?” she asked her sister.

“Well not really,” admitted Penny, “but I was doing a lot of thinking.” She’d been doing a lot of something else too…with Ray…something less cerebral and more physical, but she wasn’t about to discuss that with her sister.

“And was your contemplation productive?” enquired Fraser.

For one horrifying split second Penny thought he was talking about the sex, but then she realised, with a tiny sigh of relief, that she’d misunderstood. “Well actually yes it was,” she replied with a smile. “I’ve decided that I’m done with Mitch Brewer. The guy’s a moron. We came here to get away from him, we came here to ski, so I’m going to ski. I’m not going to worry about him anymore. Who’s with me?”

Fraser, Ray and Caitlin exchanged glances.

“Oh come on guys,” Penny sighed and put her hands on her hips, “I mean it, I’m fed up with the whole thing, I just want to have some fun, is that too much to ask for?”

“Of course not,” smiled Caitlin. If this is really what her sister wanted then she would have to go along with it. “Skiing sounds like a great way to spend the morning. What a coincidence we’re here in a ski resort,” she added with a wink.

Penny laughed, grateful to her sister for lightening the mood. “Something exciting though,” she said, getting really enthusiastic now, “no more baby slopes…er, sorry Ray, you might have to sit this one out.”

Ray threw his hands up in mock disappointment. “Oh jeez, just when I was startin’ to get good at it.” 

“What about the Red Dragon Run?” suggested Caitlin, “I was talking to this guy, Jason, yesterday and he said it’s pretty wild.”

“Wild...” Ray repeated a little nervously. 

“Relax Ray,” laughed Penny, “it’ll be fun! You can probably watch from the top and then when we’re done we’ll come back up on the lift.”

Ray wasn’t sure he wanted to watch. Skiing made him nervous, he realised. From now on he was going to stick to solid ground. Cars were much safer, at least you were in control of a car, if someone ever invented steering wheels for skis then maybe it would be different.

“What do you think, Fraser?” asked Caitlin, “you up for this?”

“Of course,” Fraser replied with a smile, “I understand the Red Dragon Run is rather exhilarating.

The two sisters excitedly talked over breakfast, giving Fraser a few tips on the most dangerous features of the Red Dragon Run.

As they washed up the breakfast things, Fraser and Ray were talking about Brewer. “I really wish you hadn’t made me leave my gun back home,” Ray said quietly, glancing over his shoulder to make sure the sisters were out of earshot.

“I could not have foreseen that we would encounter a malfeasant,” began Fraser.

“Oh come on buddy,” Ray shook his head, “wherever we go we always encounter a mal, er, a mal...”

“Malfeasant, Ray,” Fraser helped him out, “and besides, firing a weapon in an area such as this is highly dangerous. There is always the risk of avalanche.”

“I wish people would stop talkin’ about avalanches,” frowned Ray.

“The probability of an avalanche occurring in this area is…” Fraser began, but Ray interrupted him.

“I don’t wanna hear it,” he said, putting his hands over his ears. “Come on, Penny wants to do this Dragon thing, I think she needs to do it.”

Fraser nodded, Ray was right of course, Penny was clearly looking forward to it and she needed to prove to herself that Mitch Brewer showing up hadn’t affected her too badly after all.


	10. Chapter 10

It was very quiet at the top of the hill. Sort of peaceful, actually, thought Ray…but boring. Ray had nothing to do but drink his thermos of coffee while Fraser and the girls prepared to ski down the Red Dragon Run. It was a little scary that no one else was brave enough to ski down the enormous mountain. The drop was very steep and as far as Ray could see it was full of sharp turns and curves. Nothing like the baby slope he'd spent the past two days on. Ray wondered if this could possibly be safe. They were the only ones there. Of course it was still early. All the risk takers must not be awake yet, he decided.

Penny finished putting on her gloves and walked past Ray. “We'll be back in ten minutes or so, OK?” She glanced at him.

“Ten minutes! How far down does this thing go?” Ray squinted. It was snowing lightly making the visibility poor so he couldn't see the bottom.

“Well you have to factor in the length of time we spend on the ski lift as well, Ray,” Fraser said. “I think it will be eight minutes and twenty three seconds.”

“I’ll see ya in eight minutes and twenty three seconds then, buddy.”

Caitlin secured her goggles and gestured for Fraser and Penny to join her at the edge of the hill. Penny was most eager and set off before the others. Fraser and Caitlin quickly caught up though and followed her down. Ray watched them for a couple minutes until they were out of sight. He felt sort of odd letting them go like that, but the girls were with Fraser after all and he wouldn't let anything happen to them.

Ray poured himself some more coffee and settled down on a bench to wait for them to come back. He glanced at his watch and wondered how accurate Fraser’s estimate was going to be. He can’t possibly know exactly how long it’s going to take, he thought to himself, anything could happen to slow them down, like... but his train of thought was interrupted by a shadowy figure lurking behind a tree. 

Ray set down his thermos and took a few steps toward the tree. “Who’s there?” He called but no one answered. He was starting to wish he had brought his gun after all. He moved behind the tree and found no one there. Maybe they already left? Or maybe it was just an animal? He looked at his watch again, only another three minutes and twelve seconds, plus however long it took them to get back up in the lift of course, Fraser hadn’t told him exactly how long that would take had he...Ray rolled his eyes. He was getting paranoid, there was no way Brewer would show up here, not after yesterday. He went to sit back on the bench. 

Those three minutes and twelve seconds seemed to last forever and he spent most of it scanning the area from the bench, trying to convince himself that his imagination had been playing tricks on him. He just wished Fraser and the girls would come back already so he knew they were safe. Finally, he saw them coming up on the ski lift and breathed a huge sigh of relief.

“Oh my gosh, that was amazing!” Penny spun around and looked back at the slope.

“Er, glad yer feeling better,” Ray said as Penny sat down next to him.

Penny smiled at him. “I’m having so much fun today Ray,” she said.

“I wish I could join ya,” replied Ray.

“No you don’t,” giggled Penny.

Ray shrugged and winked at her. “Well, maybe one day, y’know.” He put his arm around her and squeezed it playfully.

“Come on, let’s go again,” Penny broke free of Ray and grabbed hold of her sister’s hand.

“OK,” smiled Caitlin picking up her bag and swinging it onto her back. She looked hopefully at Fraser who nodded a silent confirmation that he would be skiing down with them for a second time.

“Leave that with Ray,” said Penny, trying to take the bag from her, “you don’t need to take that huge thing with you, it’ll slow you down.”

“No,” Caitlin held onto it tightly, “I can’t leave it here, this is our emergency supplies.”

“Emergency supplies,” repeated Penny incredulously, “what emergency supplies?”

“You know, things we might need in an emergency,” Caitlin explained, “a first aid kit, emergency blankets, flares...”

“Flares!” Penny exclaimed, “emergency blankets! We’ll only be gone for eight minutes and forty three seconds...”

“Twenty three seconds,” Fraser corrected her, “eight minutes and twenty three seconds, although during our first run I noticed that the snow was slightly softer in places than I was expecting, so perhaps I should adjust my estimate. Did you happen to record the precise time it took for our first run, Ray?”

“Er...” Ray momentarily contemplated making up a time, but then he remembered how Fraser could always tell if he was lying. 

“Doesn’t anyone else think my sister is going over the top?,” Penny interrupted, much to Ray’s relief, “I mean, do we really need to carry flares?”

“The Red Dragon Run is particularly hazardous,” Fraser pointed out, “therefore carrying such supplies is an excellent idea.” Fraser smiled warmly at Caitlin.

She smiled back with a little flutter of pride that Fraser had agreed with her. Penny never thought about making contingency plans, it was a miracle if her sister remembered to put on a coat before she left the house. “You can never be too careful,” she said, “there could be an accident, or an avalanche...”

“Stop talkin’ about avalanches!” exclaimed Ray.

“Sorry,” said Caitlin, sheepishly, “come on, let’s get our skis back on.” The sisters headed back towards the start of the run, but Fraser hung back.

“Aren’t ya goin’ down again buddy?” asked Ray.

“I intend to,” replied Fraser, “but first I wanted to ask you if anything was wrong, you appear a little distracted.”

“Nah, I’m fine,” Ray forced out a smile, “it’s nothin’.”

“Clearly it’s not nothing,” Fraser pointed out. “I understand that you are feeling left out as you are unable to ski this run with us, but perhaps tomorrow Penny could take you to a run more suited to your abilities?”

Ray grinned. “It’s not that,” he replied, “it’s just...well, I saw...er, at least I thought I saw...”

“Mitch Brewer?” Fraser finished.

“Yeah,” nodded Ray, “behind that tree, but he disappeared.”

“Hmmm, there is every possibility that Mr Brewer has followed us again this morning,” Fraser frowned and looked around.

“I know,” agreed Ray. “Look, you guys go have fun and then we can all get outta here. Y’know, I’d feel a lot better if I had my, er, my gun.”

“Ray,” Fraser began with a tiny glint in his eye, “please don’t force me to mention the particular mountain related phenomenon that makes you so nervous again. Firing a gun in this environment would be totally irresponsible.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” said Ray and he picked up his thermos and poured himself another cup of coffee as Fraser went to join the girls. 

Seconds later, Ray froze suddenly at what sounded like the noise of someone taking the safety off a Walther PPK. He quickly set down his thermos again and looked behind him. Everything echoed at the top of the mountain. The sound could have come from anywhere, but he was sure it was somewhere behind him. Just as he stood up to search the area, the gun went off firing two shots in Ray’s direction. He ran to the edge of the mountain and reached in his pocket for his gun before remembering he didn’t have it. “Damn,” Ray uttered quietly. Suddenly everything was silent and he waited a moment before moving again. He stood motionless, scanning the area until another shot was fired and he ducked down. The ground beneath him began to shake and then suddenly, before Ray had chance to react, the snow under his feet started sliding down the mountain taking him down with it. 

Penny, Caitlin and Fraser were unaware of the drama unfolding above them. 

“What do you want to do after this?” Penny shouted through her scarf and looked at Fraser and Caitlin.

“Well, we should probably include Ray in our next activity.” Fraser looked behind him at the top of the mountain and noticed Ray wasn't there anymore. Then he saw a snowmobile quickly approaching them. The girls soon heard the snowmobile and turned around to see it too. It was getting closer and closer. Penny and Caitlin exchanged looks. They'd already made their assumptions as to who it was.

Just as they were nearing the bottom, the snowmobile moved beside them and they could clearly see it was Mitch Brewer. He didn't speak at all. He took his hands off the handles of the snowmobile and drew his gun. He shot several rounds towards them, but he couldn’t get a good aim. 

Penny screamed and lost her balance. She toppled over and fell right into Caitlin, knocking her right off her skis. 

Fraser wasn't sure if the girls had been shot, or had just fallen. He followed them down as quickly as he could. Now Mitch had his gun aimed at Fraser, but he failed to notice the fallen tree lying in front of him, half covered with snow. Fraser turned around at just the right time to see Mitch collide with the tree. The snowmobile exploded on impact and the explosion rocked the ground, sending Fraser flying off his skis and he slid to a halt in a snowdrift.

Caitlin lay in an awkward position in the snow a few feet away from Penny. Fraser raced to Caitlin's side and noticed she had her eyes fixed fast Fraser. Then he could hear it. It almost sounded like a train pummelling towards them. The explosion had caused an avalanche.

“We need to get out of here,” Fraser grabbed Caitlin's hand and helped her to her feet but she quickly fell back with a yelp. Fraser eased her back to the ground. “Where does it hurt?”

“My leg,” she sighed. “I think it's broken.” Without thinking he scooped her up into his arms and looked for shelter. He quickly spotted a cave nearby and carried Caitlin into it as fast as he could. He gently set her down and ran back out to retrieve Penny. He had almost forgotten about her for a moment. He picked up the younger sister and carried her into the cave, setting her next to Caitlin.

“Wait, Fraser,” Caitlin started with a grunt. “Where's Ray?”

“Hopefully in a safer place than we are,” Fraser answered and knelt next to Caitlin.

“Oh my God!” Caitlin shouted suddenly and pointed to the front of the cave. “I thought he was dead?” A mysterious snow covered figure weakly stumbled into the cave.

“Er, d’ya know there's an avalanche?” Ray brushed the snow off his body and Fraser and Caitlin let out a sigh of relief. “What the hell happened to Penny?” Ray quickly noticed she was unconscious and dropped to her side.

“I don't know,” Caitlin replied, frantically, “she went down suddenly when Mitch was shooting at us, wait you don't think she was...”

Ray put a hand on her thigh and lifted it up to see his hand was covered in blood. Just then the avalanche reached the cave and the snow piled up, blocking their only way out.


	11. Chapter 11

“Fraser!” Ray called out, panic threatening to overwhelm him.

Diefenbaker had just rolled into the cave entrance before the snow completely blocked the entrance, plunging the cave into darkness.

“I’m here, I’m alright,” replied Fraser. “Is everyone else safe? Caitlin, are you still in possession of your bag?”

Caitlin heard his voice, but couldn’t answer. Instead she let out a whimper, it was all that would come out of her mouth. She was completely disorientated by the sudden darkness and everything had happened so quickly she wasn’t even sure if she could really hear Fraser calling her name, or if her mind was playing tricks on her.

“Fraser, Penny’s hurt,” said Ray, urgently. “There’s...there’s blood.”

“Everyone stay where you are,” said Fraser, “Caitlin I need to find your bag. Can you to make another noise? I will come to you.”

This time the sound of his calming voice was enough to bring her to her senses. Then suddenly she was acutely aware of the pain in her leg. “Oh,” she replied, weakly, “Here...I’m here...oh my leg.”

Fraser followed the sound and almost immediately was beside her. “It’s alright,” he tried to reassure her as he gently slipped the bag from over her shoulders. “Which leg is causing you pain?”

“Penny...help Penny,” Caitlin replied desperately, “don’t worry about me.”

Fraser rummaged in the bag and found one of the torches she’d packed. He clicked it on and Caitlin’s eyes squinted at the sudden onslaught of brightness.

“Please,” she urged, “help my sister. I think my leg’s broken, that’s all.”

Fraser didn’t want to leave her side, but he knew he had to go to Penny. There was every possibility that the younger sister had a gunshot wound. He quickly pulled an emergency blanket from the bag and wrapped it around Caitlin, then he shone the light across to the other side of the cave.

“We’re here,” Ray waved in the shadows as he spoke and Fraser raced over to them, clutching Caitlin’s backpack in his hand.

“Penny,” said Fraser, urgently. “Penny, can you hear me?” He shone the torch in her face, but her eyes were closed and she didn’t respond. Fraser reached out and felt for a pulse in her neck. He allowed himself a small sigh of relief as soon as he felt her heart beating beneath his fingertips. 

“Ray, I need the first aid kit,” he said, handing the bag over. He scanned Penny with the torch until he saw the large patch of blood soaking through the leg of her ski suit. There was a jagged hole. So Mitch Brewer had shot her, Fraser grimaced. He took a deep breath and tried not to think about the seriousness of their predicament. Instead, he concentrated his thoughts on the immediate situation. Carefully, he pulled back the edges where the bullet had torn the material of Penny’s ski suit. Without speaking, Ray handed Fraser a thick dressing from the first aid kit and the Mountie folded it in half and pressed it down hard onto the wound. As he did so, Penny opened her eyes and let out a whimper.

“Hey,” Ray forced out a smile and held her hand in his. “It’s OK, you’re gonna be OK.” He tried to sound convincing, but he didn’t believe it himself. Right now their situation seemed desperate. They were trapped in a cave, both girls were seriously injured and Ray had no idea how long they could all survive. Even with Fraser’s expert survival techniques, how quickly would they run out of air? Was snow even airtight? Ray didn’t know the answers, his mind was racing. Maybe they could break through it somehow, how deep was it? How much snow came down during an avalanche anyway? What if rescuers never found them? What if...

“Ray, Ray, Ray, RAY!” Fraser’s voice sounded urgent and Ray’s thoughts were instantly refocused on Penny. “I need another dressing,” said Fraser.

“Oh, er, yeah,” Ray pulled another sterile packet from the first aid kit and tried to tear it open, but he couldn’t seem to get a proper grip. He fumbled for a few more seconds before Fraser realised his friend had a problem.

“Ray, put your gloves back on,” Fraser instructed, as he took the packet from Ray. The temperature in the cave was dropping rapidly and Fraser was worried about Ray developing frostbite, or hypothermia. “Find an emergency blanket and put it around your shoulders,” he added.

“I’m fine,” snapped Ray in response.

“And I would prefer it if you remained fine,” replied Fraser. “Please Ray, put on your gloves and wrap yourself in the blanket.”

Ray sighed and pulled a shiny silver blanket from Caitlin’s backpack and wrapped himself in it and then he slipped his ski gloves back on. He watched Fraser working on Penny’s leg, the bleeding appeared to be slowing down and Fraser bandaged it tightly. Then he covered her with another silver blanket.

Diefenbaker was sitting with Caitlin, he hadn’t left her side. She couldn’t explain it, but the presence of the half-wolf was giving her some comfort. She was fighting to stay conscious, the pain was coming in waves and she was worried about her sister. “Penny!” she called out. The torchlight was casting an eerie shadow against the wall of the cave and Caitlin couldn’t see what was happening.

“She’s OK, she’s doin’ fine,” replied Ray.

Caitlin could feel herself starting to shiver, although she wasn’t really feeling cold. Dief lay down next to her and nuzzled into her neck. She was grateful for his empathy and warmth, although she really wished it was Fraser lying there with her.

The next thing she remembered was Fraser calling her name. Her eyes flickered open, but she couldn’t really focus. There was a strange feeling on her left cheek, warm…wet, soft, but…oh Dief’s licking me, she realised. “I’m sorry, I guess I passed out,” she said, trying to reassure Fraser who was kneeling by her side again, his brow wrinkled with worry. “Is Penny OK? How long was I out?”

“Penny is alright,” replied Fraser, “I think you may have been unconscious for two or three minutes. How do you feel?”

“My leg still hurts,” she replied. Apart from that she didn’t really feel anything except numb.

“Hmmm, well it’s safe to assume it’s still broken then,” Fraser answered with a wry smile. Caitlin was grateful for his attempt at levity. “I am going to use three ski poles as a splint,” he continued, “I’m afraid that manoeuvring you into position will not be very comfortable,” he added apologetically.

“Just do what you have to do,” replied Caitlin, bravely.

Fraser nodded and went about his plan. The break was a clean one and he was quickly able to move her ankle back into alignment, then he strapped the only three ski poles that had made it into the cave with them to her leg. One had snapped in two at some stage, but it was still long enough to do the job. 

“Are you alright?” he asked when he’d finished.

Caitlin nodded. “Yeah,” she breathed. 

“Good,” replied Fraser. “Now I think I should move you closer to your sister. Exchanging body heat at this juncture would be prudent. The temperature in here is dropping.”

“OK,” she agreed. “They are…I mean, we are going to get out of here, aren’t we?” She asked in a shaky voice. “They are looking for us, there must be rescue parties out there, surely…” her voice trailed off. 

“I am certain of it,” replied Fraser with a smile. “We simply have to wait until the rescue teams locate us.” As he talked he carefully lifted her into his arms and carried her the short distance to where Penny was now sitting up with Ray huddled next to her. 

“Hi Sis,” Penny managed a weak grin, “fancy seeing you here.”  
Fraser lowered Caitlin to the floor and they hugged each other tightly. Fraser switched off one of the torches to save the battery and left the other one on the floor next to them.

“You know buddy, I’m really bored of bein’ in here now,” sighed Ray. “So, um, how do we get out?”

“As I was just explaining to Caitlin, the rescue teams will undoubtedly be in the process of searching for us now,” replied Fraser, “we followed the proper procedure and logged our intention to ski this run today so they know we’re here somewhere.”

“What about…him?” asked Penny, quietly, “Mitch…do you think he’s still alive out there?”

Fraser shook his head solemnly. “I believe it’s highly unlikely that anyone could have survived an explosion of that magnitude.”

Penny squeezed her sister’s hand tightly. In any other circumstances she would have been celebrating. Mitch Brewer was finally gone and they didn’t have to spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders for him. At this moment though, she wasn’t sure how much longer the rest of their lives would be.

Just then, Dief started barking and running in circles. “Oh jeez,” Ray shook his head, “he doesn’t need to go now, does he? Dyin’ in this cave is gonna be bad enough, but if I have to live the last few hours of my life with the smell of dog sh…”

“I don’t think that’s it,” Fraser interrupted him, “it’s something else.” He ruffled the animal’s ears. He hoped Dief had found something that could help them out of this cave. Dief barked again and ran off towards the shadows and Fraser started to follow him.

“Take the torch,” Ray called out.

“No need,” replied Fraser, “my eyes have adjusted to the low light levels already.”

Ray looked at the girls and shrugged. He wouldn’t have called it a low light level over in the corner, he would have called it pitch black. So seeing in the dark was another one of those super Mountie skills his buddy had, was it? Greatness.

Fraser followed Diefenbaker further back into the cave. The head height got lower until he had to crawl on his hands and knees. “What did you find?” he asked. “Is there another way out…oh…hello Dad.” Fraser wasn’t sure if he was pleased to see his father now, or not. He hadn’t appeared for a few days though and Fraser had been starting to miss him. “How are you?” He asked, politely.

“Me? I’m fine, Benton, thank you for asking,” replied Bob Fraser, “still dead of course, but I think we’ve established by now that’s not going to change. You, on the other hand, appear to be in somewhat of a pickle.”

“Indeed,” agreed Benton, making himself comfortable on a small rock. His knees came almost up to his chin, but clutching his arms around them helped keep him warm. “Your ability for stating the obvious never ceases to amaze me.”

“There’s no need for sarcasm, Son,” retorted Bob. 

“Sorry,” Benton apologised, humbly. “What’s the situation out there?” he asked.

“They’re looking for you,” replied Bob, “but it might do you good to have a back-up plan. It’s a slow process and you have two injured young ladies in here. ”

Fraser nodded, seriously. “I know Dad,” he said. His first priority had been the girl’s injuries, but now he knew that Penny, in particular, was out of immediate danger his mind had turned to a way of getting them out of the cave and to safety. Benton Fraser wasn’t the type to wait around to be rescued, he was a Mountie. “Is there any way you could alert the authorities to our location?” he asked his Dad.

“What do you want me to do, draw a big arrow in the snow?” asked Bob, indignantly.

“Well that would be a start,” snapped Benton. If he wasn’t going to be of any help, why had his Dad popped up now? “Alright, do you have any other suggestions?”

“Well, how do you think I got in here?” asked Bob.

“You’re a ghost, I assume you…I don’t know…floated through the wall, maybe?” replied Benton. This really wasn’t helping.

“I think you’ve been reading too many ghost stories,” said Bob. He picked up his hat and placed it squarely on his head. Then he got to his hands and knees and began crawling away into the darkness. Fraser was about to follow him when he became aware of the light of a torch dancing on the cave walls.

“Fraser,” it was Ray’s voice coming from behind him. “What did Dief find? Is it a way outta here?”

“I’m not sure,” replied Fraser, looking back over his shoulder to his friend. “Possibly.”

“Greatness,” replied Ray, “because this place is freakin’ me out.”

Fraser turned back to see that his father’s ghost had disappeared. Of course his Dad wasn’t going to make this easy for him, was he. This was going to be another one of those tests that he was so fond of, sighed Fraser. OK Dad, he thought to himself, I’ll play along. “Don’t worry Ray, I’m sure we’ll be out of this predicament shortly.” 

“So, er, Fraser,” Ray began, nervously, “how long have we got? I mean, before the air runs out in this cave.”

“You know, Ray, technically this isn’t a cave,” Fraser began, “at least not in the strict geological sense.”

“I don’t care,” snapped Ray. “Just answer the question.”

“You don’t need to worry about that at all,” Fraser replied with a reassuring wave of his hand. “It’s not airtight, if we had access to clean water and food we could survive in here indefinitely.”

Ray shuddered. “I don’t wanna have to prove ya wrong, buddy,” he said. Then he lowered his voice. “What about Penny, how long has she got?”

“I was able to stop the bleeding, as you saw,” explained Fraser. “She is in no immediate danger.”

“Shouldn’t you, er, take the bullet out, or somethin’?” asked Fraser. “That’s what they do in the movies.”

Fraser shook his head. “This isn’t a movie, Ray,” he replied with a frown. “An invasive procedure under these conditions would only heighten the risk of infection.”

“OK,” Ray was trying to take this all in. “And Caitlin?”

“The circulation is good in her injured leg,” replied Fraser, “they will both be fine Ray, as soon as they have access to proper medical care they’ll both be back on their feet before you can say Jiminy Croquet.”

“Cricket, Fraser,” Ray dropped his head into his hands, “Jiminy Cricket. From Pinocchio.”

“Ah yes, of course,” Fraser tapped the side of his head as if he was attempting to lock that particular piece of popular culture into his brain. Then suddenly he realised that Diefenbaker had disappeared. “Dief!” he called out, “Dief!”

“Er, the wolf’s deaf, remember,” said Ray.

“He is,” agreed Fraser, “however the acoustics in here are perfect for enhancing the sound to a level that I believe Diefenbaker finds most agreeable.”

“Er, oh,” replied Ray. “Greatness. Dief! Where are ya buddy?”

Almost immediately, the half-wolf came bounding back around the corner, his head covered in snow. He stopped for a moment and shook the freezing substance free from his fur. Then he barked.

“Really?” Fraser wasn’t sure if he believed what he was hearing. “And you can get your head out? Do you think you can wriggle your shoulders through?” 

Dief barked a response.

“What is it?” asked Ray. “I don’t get wolf-speak, remember.”

“Sorry, Ray,” replied Fraser. “It appears that Diefenbaker has located a small opening at the end of this tunnel which has not been blocked by snow, however it’s not big enough for any of us to use as an escape route.”

“Damn,” Ray punched the wall of the cave in frustration. He immediately regretted doing so…suddenly he understood the meaning of the term ‘rock hard’. Then an idea came to him. “OK, but Dief can stick his head out…so, er, what if he just barks real loud until someone hears him?”

Fraser tugged at his earlobe as he thought through Ray’s idea. It wasn’t often that he was out of ideas himself and at this juncture Ray’s plan was the only one they had that didn’t involve waiting around and hoping for the best. It wasn’t a great plan though. “Hmmm, it’s an idea that’s worth developing Ray, however, assuming Dief can make his presence known, I’m not sure that he will be able to communicate the fact that we are here. As you pointed out, his communication skills with anyone other than me are, inexplicably, ineffective.”

“OK, OK,” Ray was beginning to get excited, “so, er, what if we write a note and, um, Dief can pass it out of the hole in the rock.”

“I don’t believe we have writing materials with us, Ray...” began Fraser.

“Jeez buddy, d’ya have to keep findin’ ways to knock this idea down?” Ray sulked.

“I’m sorry Ray,” replied Fraser, “let’s get back to the girls and we’ll think about it. I’m sure there’s a way.”

They quickly returned and were relieved to see both Caitlin and Penny still sitting up and looking remarkably upbeat. “We thought we’d drink some of this water,” said Caitlin, “would you like some?” She offered the bottle to Fraser.

“No, we’re fine, thank you kindly,” replied Fraser, “you and Penny need to ensure that you remain hydrated. How are you feeling now?”

“Um, OK,” replied Penny, “it only hurts if I move.”

“My leg feels weird, I think it might be really swelling now,” said Caitlin. 

Fraser nodded, although he’d used a few rocks to raise her foot, the swelling was bound to be causing her pain. He wished he could do more for her, but all he could offer was a supportive smile. “I anticipate that we will be able to get you to a medical facility very soon,” he explained, “Ray has a plan to ensure that our rescue is speedier than it might otherwise be.”

“Oh Ray,” Penny smiled, “I knew you’d get us out of here.”

Ray blushed. “Um, well, we’re still in here right now,” he mumbled, “it’s a stupid idea anyway. I, er, I don’t suppose ya have a pen?”

“A pen!” exclaimed Penny, “no I haven’t.” She couldn’t help but be disappointed, she was hoping Ray’s plan would be a little more exciting. Maybe even slightly dangerous...she was starting to have fantasies about Ray heroically breaking through rock with his bare hands, or maybe climbing a sheer rockface and abseiling down to get help. She closed her eyes, maybe the pain was getting to her after all. If it wasn’t for this stupid bullet in her leg, she’d be the one abseiling, she didn’t need a man to rescue her, she wasn’t helpless.

Ray saw the look in her eyes and glanced sheepishly at Fraser. “Er, well, ya see...Dief found a way out, but it’s kinda small, he can’t get through it, but I, er, we, er, well I thought we could somehow get a message out. So they know we’re in here.”

“It doesn’t have to be a written message, does it?” Caitlin said, looking at Fraser for confirmation.

“Indeed not,” agreed the Mountie, “what do we have in the bag?”

Caitlin slowly emptied the contents of her backpack out onto the floor. She turned to her sister. “You know, when we get out of here, you can apologise for making fun of me packing all these things.”

Penny shrugged. “I guess,” she said quietly.

“If I hadn’t, you might have bled to death and we would both have frozen by now,” Caitlin continued. “We’d have no fresh water to drink and we’d be sitting here in the dark.”

“OK, OK,” snapped Penny, “I get it. I’m sorry, you were right...” her voice trailed off, she really didn’t want to fight with her big sister now, especially not over something so silly.

“What about the flares?” suggested Ray, picking up one of the red cylindrical objects and passing it from one hand to the other.

“I don’t believe that Diefenbaker has the dexterity to operate it,” replied Fraser, ruffling the half-wolf’s ears, “and it would be too dangerous for him to carry it whilst already lit.”

“Er, er...OK, but what about if we attached it to one of the ski poles?” This idea was starting to grow in Ray’s mind now.

“No, I’d rather die in here than risk something terrible happening to Dief,” replied Caitlin, firmly and Penny nodded. “It’s too risky,” continued Caitlin, “but there has to be something else we can use.”

“The idea of attaching something to a ski pole is an excellent one, Ray,” said Fraser, “we only have the ones that are currently holding your leg in position though,” he pointed out, nodding towards Caitlin.

“It’s OK, two will be enough, take one off,” said Caitlin, enthusiastically, trying not to think about how much it was going to hurt to have her broken leg moved again. “But what can we tie to the end of it? It needs to be something that’ll be noticed.”

“One of the emergency blankets?” suggested Ray, “they sure are shiny.”

“It’s an idea,” agreed Fraser, “although there was significant cloud cover and without the sun’s reflection they might not be quite as noticeable. Additionally, it still may take some time after the rescue teams become aware of our location for us to be rescued and it’s extremely cold in here now, the blankets may be essential to our...” he trailed off as he realised he was going to complete that sentence with the word ‘survival’. He thought better of it and instead said, “our continued good health.”

Silence fell, it seemed like they were so close to getting themselves out of this mess, but still not quite there. Caitlin looked at her dark surroundings. The light from a single torch was enough for her to be able to make out everyone’s facial features, but not much else. It was kind of disturbing, the shadows were playing tricks on her, she knew it was silly, but she felt like someone was watching them. Diefenbaker didn’t seem to be having any trouble with the visibility and he was pacing around, sniffing and panting. Clearly he wasn’t at all comfortable being trapped in here though, Caitlin had never felt claustrophobic before and it wasn’t as if this cave was that small, the roof was over ten feet high in places and she knew there was air coming in from outside where Dief had found the opening, but even so...her head began to spin and her breathing was coming in gasps now. Air...there was no air...why couldn’t she breathe? She tried to call out to her sister, but she couldn’t make any noise...she couldn’t even see her now...

“Caitlin,” Fraser’s voice was urgent, “Caitlin, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?”

“Cait!” there was more panic in Penny’s voice, “Cait, wake up! What happened? Fraser, what’s wrong with her?”

“It’s alright, she’s coming round,” replied Fraser with relief. “I’m not sure why she passed out.”

“I...I...passed out?” Caitlin tried to sit up, but Fraser’s firm hand held her down.

“Apparently,” replied Fraser, frowning slightly as he gently lifted her wrist to check her pulse. “How do you feel now?” he asked.

“Um, I’m not really sure,” Caitlin answered him honestly. Trying to sit up had definitely been a mistake.

“Here,” Ray passed her a bottle of water. There wasn’t much left, the sisters had been sipping it slowly since they’d got there at Fraser’s instruction.

Caitlin hesitated and glanced at Fraser. She didn’t want to take the last of it. 

“Drink it,” he said, firmly and he took the bottle from Ray and held it to her lips. “You’re alright,” he tried to reassure her, but Caitlin saw right through his forced smile. She knew they really needed to get out of here soon.

“Guys,” Penny’s quiet voice took Fraser and Ray’s attention away from her sister. “I, er, I have an idea. Something we can use to attract attention, something bright and we can easily tie it onto the end of a ski pole.”

“Greatness!” exclaimed Ray, scrabbling over to her to give her a hug. “Oh, sorry,” he said as she winced. “Gentle hugs only, right.”

Penny nodded. Truth was she would take any hugs right now, the pain was irrelevant.

“So, what’s this great idea?” asked Caitlin. 

“Well, er,” Penny felt her cheeks flush, which was stupid because it was so dark she doubted anyone could see her embarrassment. She could have kicked herself, this was a matter of life and death now, it was a ridiculous time to develop a bashful side. “I’m, er, I’m wearing red lingerie.”

“Oh, er, um...” Fraser cleared his throat and rubbed his thumb over his eyebrow. “Your, er, your lingerie...that’s, er...that’s...”

“Turn around, Fraser,” Ray ordered, laughing at his buddy’s sudden awkwardness. 

Fraser nodded profusely and turned his attentions to gently taking the longest of the ski poles from Caitlin’s leg and re-strapping it using the remaining two. Caitlin did her best to stay conscious, but it was struggle.

Meanwhile, Ray was struggling with Penny’s bra. 

“Let me do it,” insisted Penny.

“No, I got it,” lied Ray. “Ya can’t take off too many clothes, you’ll get, er, frostbite in places ya really don’t wanna get frostbite.” He’d unzipped her skisuit just enough to get his arms around her. He’d fumbled his way under the layers of clothing, but they were hampering his handiwork and the cold wasn’t helping. It was difficult enough undoing a bra under more romantic circumstances, but this was slightly ridiculous, he thought to himself. If he wasn’t so worried about getting out of this goddam cave he might have found the situation hilarious. He was a little out of practice, but back in the day he could undo Stella’s bra with one hand, usually while putting on a condom with the other...for a moment his mind drifted off, if he died in this cave that was a pretty good memory to go out on...he wondered for a brief second if Caitlin had packed condoms in her bag...

“Ray, Ray, Ray, RAY!” Fraser’s voice snapped his partner back to reality. “Do you have the, er, the, um, Penny’s...”

Ray finally got the hook undone. Penny had already wriggled out of the straps and... “Ta da!” announced Ray proudly holding the red bra aloft.

Fraser snatched it out of his hand and quickly tied it by the straps to the end of the ski pole, while Ray made sure that Penny was decent again. He hugged her once more. “That was kinda fun,” he whispered in her ear. “Can’t wait to get outta here now,” he added with a wink.

“Yep,” agreed Penny, suddenly she couldn’t feel the pain in her thigh anymore and she let out a small giggle.

“There, done,” said Fraser. “Come on Dief, you need to ensure this, er, this, the, um...the...it...is in a prominent position and then I suggest you make as much noise as you can to attract attention.”

Dief yapped a response and ran off into the darkness. Ray stayed with Penny and Caitlin and soon they could hear Diefenbaker barking, the sound echoed around the cave. It reminded Penny of a particularly bad night she’d had at a club, one...or three...too many cocktails and the sound of thumping dance music had made it feel as if her head was hollow and the speakers and replaced her entire brain. She knew there was a reason she rarely drank alcohol.

Ray listened carefully. Dief’s barking started to trail off. Poor mutt’s losing his voice, thought Ray sadly. If this plan didn’t work he didn’t know what they would do. Ray glanced at Caitlin, shining the dimming torch at her face. She was looking really pale again and he took her hand in his. “Won’t be long now,” he said, trying to keep her awake. She replied with a small nod.

They waited and waited, it felt like hours, but in reality it could have been no longer than ten or fifteen minutes. Just as Ray thought, Dief had nothing left and he heard Fraser’s voice shouting. At first he thought his buddy was shouting at him, but then he heard another voice, an older man, he couldn’t make out the words, but the sound echoing along the narrow tunnel was clearly not Fraser. Then there was another voice, a woman this time. Ray breathed a huge sigh of relief. He knew the rescue teams still had to dig down to the cave entrance, but at least they’d be working in the right place now. He looked at the tired faces of Caitlin and Penny and grinned. “I think we’re gettin’ outta here at last,” he said.


	12. Chapter 12

Ray slammed the door behind him of Penny's room in the hospital. 

"Ray what are you doing?" Penny weakly asked as he crawled on the bed in front of her. 

He didn't answer her. He laid between her legs, careful to avoid the injured one, and kissed her softly. 

"Ray..." She tried to speak between kisses. "We're in the hospital, do you think this is really appropriate?"

"Guess not." He kissed her again. "But this might be our last time together." He slid his hands under her shirt. Her skin was so soft.

She finally wrapped her arms around his neck. "Ray..." She spoke quietly into his neck. "Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray..." 

Then her voice slowly started to morph into Fraser's. Ray opened his eyes and saw his buddy and the doctor leaning over him. 

"Er, what's going on?" He looked around and realized he was still in the waiting room.

"You were dreaming Ray," Fraser answered him. "The doctor is here now." 

"Oh, er, greatness." Ray slowly stood up and tried to remember the last thing that happened before he fell asleep. That dream had really cleared his mind of their current predicament. "How are they?" He looked at the doctor.

"Well, Caitlin's right leg is broken, but she should be back to normal in six to eight weeks. We removed the bullet from Penny's leg. Luckily there’s no nerve damage, so we're going to send her home tomorrow, she'll need to take it easy for a few weeks,” explained the doctor. “You guys did everything right. They're both going to be just fine thanks to you. Penny probably would have bled to death if you two hadn't been there." He shook both of their hands.

"Nah, Fraser did all the work. I was just tryin’ not to pass out," said Ray and he sat back down. He hadn't realized how sore he still was. 

Fraser sat down with him as the doctor left the room. “What were you dreaming about?”

“Nothin’.” Ray replied, looking at him sternly.

“Understood.”

xXxXxXx

The girls hobbled into the airport on their crutches to see Fraser and Ray off. 

Penny balanced herself enough so she could hold Ray's hands in hers. She thought she would manage a short speech expressing her gratitude, but instead she dropped her crutches and flung her arms around his neck for a hug. "Thank you so much!" She squeezed him tightly.

"Er, I didn't really do that much." Ray returned the hug, careful not to let her fall. "Fraser and Dief did the most..." She released him and he leaned over to pick up her crutches.

"No, I don't mean the rescue thing." She rebalanced herself.

"Oh, er..." Ray blushed as he realized what she meant.

"I mean, I've been thinking about this a lot in the hospital. I'm a person that believes everything happens for a reason and there's no way we could ever be together because your life is in Chicago and mine is here,” smiled Penny. “I've been down for a long time. I shut everyone out, but for some reason I let you in and you made me feel alive again. You brought me back to the girl I used to be before we got involved with Mitch. I never thought I could be that girl again." She started to cry and Ray pulled her into a hug.

"Well I was just gonna call it a fling, but the way you put it sounds nicer," he joked. 

She laughed and wiped her tears. She had helped him too but he could never begin to explain that to her. 

"You're an amazing girl, Penny. You're gonna be just fine."

"So are you. You're going to make a lucky girl very happy someday. It's a shame I can't be that girl." She looked at him sadly. They both cared deeply about each other, but it would never work. They were from two completely different worlds. Besides long distance relationships never work out, Ray thought to himself. "You know if you ever feel like you need a vacation again, look me up. We can have another fling," she winked. He smiled and kissed her tenderly.

"I wonder how they're making out?" Ray turned towards Fraser and Caitlin who also had a lot to discuss.

"I got this for you guys,” said Caitlin and Fraser helped her pull a small box out of her purse. She handed it to him and he carefully opened it.

"A snowglobe," said Fraser, studying it. There was a steep snow covered hill and a cabin behind it.

Caitlin nodded and pointed to it. "That's the resort and that's the slope we taught Ray to ski on. Just a little something to remember us by," she smiled.

"Thank you kindly," Fraser smiled back as he gently returned it to the box. He was very touched by the gesture. "I could never forget you and Penny." 

"It happened so fast. Here we were just struggling through our problems and then you came along suddenly and took care of them for us. And you brought my sister back to me. Penny is like a new person again." Her voice cracked as she looked over at her sister. "I just...I don't know how I can possibly thank you."

"That's not necessary. I'm just glad we were able to assist you," replied Fraser.

Caitlin smiled at his modesty. "You're really amazing, you know that. Don't ever stop what you're doing." She placed a long kiss on his lips, something she'd been anxiously longing to do since she met him. 

Just then Ray and Penny came over.

"Er, I hate to break the moment, but I think they just called our flight," Ray said awkwardly. They exchanged their final goodbyes and Penny and Caitlin started off towards the exit. 

"We did a good job Ray." Fraser picked up his carry on bag and the two started walking with Dief running beside them.

"Yeah...hey aren't you forgetting something?" Ray stopped and shoved his sunglasses on Fraser's face.

"Ray, what are you doing?" asked Fraser.

Ray then slipped Dief's leash into his buddy’s hand.

"You're supposed to be blind, remember."

THE END


End file.
